I'm mainly trying to bypass the preamp and go straight into the return. But, if I dial a little of the mids out, and go Noble into the preamp, I can get the tone I'm expecting, only then it's preamp on preamp, tube on tube, and I'm not sure that's quite what I'm after. But used judiciously, it might be OK.
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Noble Amps Preamp
- Thread starter IanMartinAllison
- Start date
Yes this is an ongoing piece of work for me too.
I am running the Noble into the front input of the WD800 and EQing the WD800 very modestly. Very slight push on Bass and Treble, slight push on the Para EQ at 80hz and about 150hz with the passive mids set around 10:00. HPF is set at ~11:00 (aiming to roll off below 80hz) and I currently use the Damping on medium (but IME, this is a pretty subtle control and really only shows itself at higher gig volumes).
I use Berg cabs ... 85% of the time its a CN212. Another 10% of the time I add a CN112 to the CN212. The rest is thru an NV610.
I certainly did not really like the Noble right into the FX return or the AUX in of the WD800, but I did not try it for very long. I am also using the excellent Cali76CB in front of the Noble DI ... using its parallel comp mode (so called NYC mode) for a relatively high level of compression, but with the Dry control almost all the way up so the bass signal is just pushed a bit by the Cali76CB.
The only amp that I really liked using the Noble into an FX return is the Mesa Walkabout. With that setup there is a definite tube on tube gain staging thing going on, and the Walkabout uses a tube stage as the driver for the mosfets which get a very tubey thing going. But with that amp, while I really liked the pairing with the Noble, I was right back to the limited clean power limits that made me seek the WD800 (or other higher power Class D amps) in the first place.
so it goes. I'm currently quite happy with the tone I'm getting with the Cali76CB/Noble/WD800/CN212 combination these days ... and very happy with the FOH results the Noble provides when I have a decent PA.
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I had always gone into the front input of my Forte. I tried your suggestion and went into the effects input and it accentuated the tubes/tone of the Noble. Thanks for the tip!
Took the plunge and ordered one of these today. Got some recording stuff coming up so splurged on the rush service like a madman. Pretty excited to get my hands on it in a couple of weeks.
Billy —
You’ll be really happy.
I got mine used earlier in the year - I heard it showed up in a store near me and so I immediately drove down to the store to purchase despite being sick in bed with the flu.
Serendipitously, I had a recording gig the following week and used the Noble direct with my pbass, Jbass, and Stingray. All sounded superb. Engineer and producer were blown away.
I’ve not only used my Noble on recordings since then, but also on all live gigs either FOH and/or thru the effects return of Bergantino B|Amp.
If my Noble were to be lost, I would immediately purchase another, and yes, I’d spend the $200 extra (or so?) for rush service!
You’ll be really happy.
I got mine used earlier in the year - I heard it showed up in a store near me and so I immediately drove down to the store to purchase despite being sick in bed with the flu.
Serendipitously, I had a recording gig the following week and used the Noble direct with my pbass, Jbass, and Stingray. All sounded superb. Engineer and producer were blown away.
I’ve not only used my Noble on recordings since then, but also on all live gigs either FOH and/or thru the effects return of Bergantino B|Amp.
If my Noble were to be lost, I would immediately purchase another, and yes, I’d spend the $200 extra (or so?) for rush service!
I'll admit it too, I was excited and couldn't wait-- I opted for the rush service when I ordered mine as well. I never record or gig without it.
I've also been pairing it with a JHS little black box attenuator to "reamp" different tracks like synths and some keys, specifically synth bass sounds ridiculously fat through the Noble.
I've also been pairing it with a JHS little black box attenuator to "reamp" different tracks like synths and some keys, specifically synth bass sounds ridiculously fat through the Noble.
I don't leave home without it! Also going into a Bergantino effects return live.Billy —
You’ll be really happy.
I got mine used earlier in the year - I heard it showed up in a store near me and so I immediately drove down to the store to purchase despite being sick in bed with the flu.
Serendipitously, I had a recording gig the following week and used the Noble direct with my pbass, Jbass, and Stingray. All sounded superb. Engineer and producer were blown away.
I’ve not only used my Noble on recordings since then, but also on all live gigs either FOH and/or thru the effects return of Bergantino B|Amp.
If my Noble were to be lost, I would immediately purchase another, and yes, I’d spend the $200 extra (or so?) for rush service!
Just a quick question. I don't have an actual bass amp at the moment(have been using my kemper for bass duties). Anyone going from their nobles 1/4 out into a power amp and cab for stage use? Trying to figure out a reasonable idea for a smallish power amp and cab to run in to.
Bag End have a range of powered cabs. My brother just got a pair. If they're anything like the Bag End's I used to own, I'll bet they are great.
When I had my Noble, I ran it through a Crest Prolite 2.0 bridged into either a fEARful 12/6, or Fearless F112..
Absolutely stunning!
I run my Noble into a Phil Jones PB-300 powered cab. Also the effects return of a small PJB combo. Works fine.
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besides a dedicated power amp unit, there are many great class D amps around these days that you can use via the FX return with your Noble. I have used the 1/4" out on the Noble into the FX return of a Mesa D800+, Mesa WD800 and a Mesa Walkabout all with perfectly useful results. As I have mentioned before, in the end I actually prefer to use the Noble into front of all of these amps to get a bit of their preamp flavor too ... but the FX return route works fine too. Then, just pick an appropriate cab for your gig needs and your set to go.
enjoy!
enjoy!
Yep, other than my response above, I did the same with my D800... just fantastic results
Oh man,,, you just kicked in the GAS. I like the look of those Bag Ends. I could really see myself moving away from a traditional "amp" and going for a system like @Ukiah Bass just posted. Bass, board (with my choice of pedal format premap/DI), powered cab.
I know this stuff has been around for ever (think Berg IP or SanAmp BDDI), but I feel like we are in a new era in terms of pedal format Preamp/DIs.
Pedal boards, IEM, PA systems doing the heavy lifting and amps serving more as monitors, cab sim, etc all play into that. Also know you can buy what ever class D amp for cheap and bypass the front end, but for me, a more integrated system has a lot of appeal.
anybody tried one of these? Seems like it could be a reasonable option.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...-bass-active-extension-cab-250-watt-1x15-inch
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...-bass-active-extension-cab-250-watt-1x15-inch
That looks like a low-end unit in terms of sonic capability. The "Opus" speaker from Eminence is not listed on that website so you'll need to run down the spec sheet and compare it to known quality options. And hear it in person if you like the specs.
If you are using a Noble, you need to think about the entire signal chain. Noble is "high end" and a low end speaker cab will not be able to reproduce everything sent to it by the Noble. Same reason you would not want to use a crappy pedal in the chain. Or a beater bass. Or a patch cable that's been walked on for a year. Presumably you are using the Noble for quality sound. Everything in the chain needs to match Noble's capabilities or you're wasting your money (on the Noble).
Fair point. To be honest I was mainly just looking for something for stage monitoring in situations where I need it(which is mostly a rare situation for me). The noble would be my signal going to mains or direct in when recording most of the time.
You could always use something like a QSC K10 if it is really just for monitoring.
Those are fabulous speakers, but have gotten kind of mixed reviews from some guys trying to use them as powered bass cabs. Obviously designed for PA use.
Those Bag Ends look great to me... real bummer there is no option to use a second passive cab along with it. Seem like that would have been a good option and worked well since the amp can make 750w @ 4ohms.
The Noble can help any bass cabinet produce better sound. But I suspect it will sound its best with a cab that can help showcase the Noble's 3D feel and rich complexity of tone. I used to have some Greenboy Fearless cabs. They'd be great. I've had/heard others in the same class of gear that would also shine with the Noble. And there are new designs appearing all the time that could be a good match. It would be fun to compare a batch of those in the same room! Alas, I'm down to just two cabs -- the Phil Jones PB-300 powered cab and a BG-150 Flightcase. Those are good cabs, but I still won't play them without the Noble. It's addicting!
