Noble Amps Preamp

[Keithunem]

You’re no foreigner here, bud! I’ve been using my Noble with my uprights for years now and I always manage to get a good tone.

One thing that I’ll say, is that I do use the phase invert feature of my Fdeck HPF a good bit and the Noble doesn’t have one. It may not be the ideal way to tame feedback, but it sure is quick lol.

Thanks Levin, I appreciate the input. If I’m in a loud environment I can always go with just my magnetic, but that’s great advice, thanks again!

 

[Infidelity]

You’re no foreigner here, bud! I’ve been using my Noble with my uprights for years now and I always manage to get a good tone.

One thing that I’ll say, is that I do use the phase invert feature of my Fdeck HPF a good bit and the Noble doesn’t have one. It may not be the ideal way to tame feedback, but it sure is quick lol.

Do you run your hpf before or after your noble?

 

[jondiener]

OK...OK...I know I’m a foreigner but I lived in EB land for 45 years (and still play and record with my EB’s), but due to a bout with cancer a couple years ago and subsequent hearing loss, I now play mostly upright. I have several nice, mint condition EB set-ups but looking for tube warmth and light weight for URB.

I am going to stick with my pair of Bergantino Reference 112 cabs along with a Greenboy Crazy 8 & 88 for smaller rooms. I am looking to stay with my Grace Felix and Sarno Black Box (tube buffer, Vari-Z) to tame the piezo 700hz “quack.” I am unsure of the amp but may go with a Jule M700, anything bigger is FOH and honestly, I could go smaller but really like the headroom.

Anyway, I am considering either a Noble, a Jule dovecage Monique, or Sarno Octal V8 to run my rig with. If any of you guys have helpful advice, especially if you or someone you know has experience with these for URB, I would REALLY appreciate the feedback.

I often use my Noble with my Upton URB. Realist Lifeline pickup and Shure Beta 98 ---> FELiX ---> Noble ---> AER Amp Three combo amp. As good as it gets, considering *I'm* playing it!

 

[Levin Hannaford]

Do you run your hpf before or after your noble?

I use it before the noble

 

[600 Ohms]

Anyone here powering a Cali76CB from Noble at 18v? I started off with an Xotic 9>18v cable, which didn't have enough amperage to feed the Cali, causing a sort of "sag" in the gain reduction circuit that would slam back to normal, rather than gently glide back. Then I bought the Noble 18v cable from Jack, and found that when the pedal was OFF, there was noise that wasn't there when being fed just by 9V. Then it went away, and I told Jack it was fine, but then it returned when I redid the pedalboard. Anybody else have this experience? At the moment, I'm running the Cali76CB from the 9V at there's nothing in the world wrong with the sound or the headroom, but I'm curious why the pedal seems so fussy about 18V.

 

[Keithunem]

I often use my Noble with my Upton URB. Realist Lifeline pickup and Shure Beta 98 ---> FELiX ---> Noble ---> AER Amp Three combo amp. As good as it gets, considering *I'm* playing it!

Jon, Do you always hook your Noble in after the Felix or are your running it through an effects loop of the Felix. I’m asking because everything I’ve seen has stated that in order to maximize the tube warmth, you need to have it sooner rather than later in the chain.

 

[jondiener]

Jon, Do you always hook your Noble in after the Felix or are your running it through an effects loop of the Felix. I’m asking because everything I’ve seen has stated that in order to maximize the tube warmth, you need to have it sooner rather than later in the chain.

I always have the Noble at the end of my chain (before the amp). Mostly because I want to use it's DI out for FOH when needed. I put the FELiX first in line because I need the ultra-high impedance input for the Realist Lifeline piezo pickup. Otherwise, the pickup has a little lower output and doesn't seem to have as much top end clarity. The FELiX does very little to color the sound (other than any EQ or filtering I apply).

FWIW, most electric players I've heard about are using the Noble last in their pedal chain, like me.

Different strokes...

 

[N. Kentucky Bass]

I always have the Noble at the end of my chain (before the amp). Mostly because I want to use it's DI out for FOH when needed. I put the FELiX first in line because I need the ultra-high impedance input for the Realist Lifeline piezo pickup. Otherwise, the pickup has a little lower output and doesn't seem to have as much top end clarity. The FELiX does very little to color the sound (other than any EQ or filtering I apply).

FWIW, most electric players I've heard about are using the Noble last in their pedal chain, like me.

Different strokes...

I’m also using a Lifeline with Noble last. The Noble is working it’s magic with a mic’d signal. But it’s also making the Lifeline sound better than I thought a piezo would ever sound.

So Jon, are you running mic and piezo through the Noble “post blend”?

 

[jondiener]

I’m also using a Lifeline with Noble last. The Noble is working it’s magic with a mic’d signal. But it’s also making the Lifeline sound better than I thought a piezo would ever sound.

So Jon, are you running mic and piezo through the Noble “post blend”?

for a while, I was just using the Realist Lifeline on its own for simplicity. But it always lacked detail and clarity on its own. So I decided to add a Shure beta 98 under the bridge to help with rounding out the sound. So when I’m using both, I take the mixed or blended signal from the FELiX into the Noble. And on doubling gigs with electric and upright, I have an A/B switcher that selects the instrument and that output feeds the Noble at the end of my chain. Basically, whatever I am playing ends up going through the Noble before my amp. It’s like a magic funnel that adds the magic sauce at the end of my signal chain.

 

[Keithunem]

for a while, I was just using the Realist Lifeline on its own for simplicity. But it always lacked detail and clarity on its own. So I decided to add a Shure beta 98 under the bridge to help with rounding out the sound. So when I’m using both, I take the mixed or blended signal from the FELiX into the Noble. And on doubling gigs with electric and upright, I have an A/B switcher that selects the instrument and that output feeds the Noble at the end of my chain. Basically, whatever I am playing ends up going through the Noble before my amp. It’s like a magic funnel that adds the magic sauce at the end of my signal chain.

Magic funnel.......Magic sauce....... I gotta get me somma THAT MOJO!!!

 

[pfschim]

Anyone here powering a Cali76CB from Noble at 18v? I started off with an Xotic 9>18v cable, which didn't have enough amperage to feed the Cali, causing a sort of "sag" in the gain reduction circuit that would slam back to normal, rather than gently glide back. Then I bought the Noble 18v cable from Jack, and found that when the pedal was OFF, there was noise that wasn't there when being fed just by 9V. Then it went away, and I told Jack it was fine, but then it returned when I redid the pedalboard. Anybody else have this experience? At the moment, I'm running the Cali76CB from the 9V at there's nothing in the world wrong with the sound or the headroom, but I'm curious why the pedal seems so fussy about 18V.

yes, I do this. signal chain is bass => Cali76CB => Boss CEB-3 Chorus (rarely used) => Noble DI => amp (usually Mesa WD800, but also Mesa Walkabout or Fender Studio Bass).

works great for me and The Cali76CB seems to be happy with the 18v power. I have run it at 9v, but I feel like the headroom/dynamics are just a bit better at 18v.

 

[600 Ohms]

yes, I do this. signal chain is bass => Cali76CB => Boss CEB-3 Chorus (rarely used) => Noble DI => amp (usually Mesa WD800, but also Mesa Walkabout or Fender Studio Bass).

works great for me and The Cali76CB seems to be happy with the 18v power. I have run it at 9v, but I feel like the headroom/dynamics are just a bit better at 18v.

I might give the company a call, as maybe my particular board revision or something is outdated or something. Just can't make 18v happen.

 

[pfschim]

I might give the company a call, as maybe my particular board revision or something is outdated or something. Just can't make 18v happen.

good luck my friend, I believe there are several others here on the Noble thread who also use the 18v feed with a Cali76CB.
sorry your having issues.

 

[fauxtoe]

I've had a wanted ad up for a Noble for a while, but I figured I might ask if there is anyone on this thread who is thinking about parting with theirs?

 

[600 Ohms]

Going to add a HQ input buffer to the pedalboard, as I'm losing the openness I get going straight into the Noble, and I want to remove my tuner from the signal path. Given the short cable run that goes from my final pedal in the chain to the Noble's input, I would imagine an output buffer is meaningless?

I suppose I would want an output buffer should I ever want to—BLASPHEMY—bypass the Noble. Perish the thought.

 

[adudenamedruby]

I got my Noble yesterday and quickly set to testing it out.

Just wow. That's about all I have to say. I put it on a small board (Peterson Strobostomp HD > Cali 76 > Noble) and played it through both my P-bass and my Upton Brescian. Holy cow: it's so warm and thick and makes everything sound amazing. There's just some raw mojo in it. For reference, I'm playing through either a MarkBass CMD112H or through a MarkBass Little Marcus 800 + NY 122.

This is possibly one of the best purchases I've ever made.

 

[pfschim]

I got my Noble yesterday and quickly set to testing it out.

Just wow. That's about all I have to say. I put it on a small board (Peterson Strobostomp HD > Cali 76 > Noble) and played it through both my P-bass and my Upton Brescian. Holy cow: it's so warm and thick and makes everything sound amazing. There's just some raw mojo in it. For reference, I'm playing through either a MarkBass CMD112H or through a MarkBass Little Marcus 800 + NY 122.

This is possibly one of the best purchases I've ever made.

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cool, glad you're liking it right away. I agree, lots of goodness in that little box.

have you played around with insert points yet ? ... right into the front end of the amp vs into the FX return ? I found that to be an interesting exercise when I first got my Noble. For most amps I actually preferred going into the front of the amp vs the FX return/Power Amp only option ... except for the Mesa Walkabout which sounded (IMO/IME) great going into the FX return.

congrats on your Noble

 

[adudenamedruby]

cool, glad you're liking it right away. I agree, lots of goodness in that little box.

have you played around with insert points yet ? ... right into the front end of the amp vs into the FX return ? I found that to be an interesting exercise when I first got my Noble. For most amps I actually preferred going into the front of the amp vs the FX return/Power Amp only option ... except for the Mesa Walkabout which sounded (IMO/IME) great going into the FX return.

congrats on your Noble

No, I only played going straight into the FX return of the amp. Haven't tried the front of the amp. I'll definitely experiment though. I spent a few hours yesterday fooling around with it so it's all still very new.

Thanks

 

[N. Kentucky Bass]

While this thread has focused on electric bass, the Noble is quite useful for double bass too!

The picture below shows a work in progress: Nano+ pedal board for double bass. Rolls PB23 provides 48v phantom power to condenser mic. The Dynasty pedal is passive; it converts balanced signal to unbalanced instrument for entry to Sonic Research ST-300 Mini tuner (also acts as mute switch to amplified sound) and on into the Noble dual-tube preamp/DI. I'll eventually replace the two units on right side with a not-yet-released new Headway EDB2 dual-channel preamp with 48v phantom for mixing in a piezo pickup signal with the on-board condenser mic. I estimate the new EDB2 form factor will be about the same size as those two pedals. BTW, the tuner and Rolls are powered from the Noble. For the Rolls, I used one of the Noble's standard power cables plugged into the yellow DC output jack as recommended by designer/builder Jack Roan. Everything is velcro'd to the pedal board. Easy to move around and use.

 

[Bassheart365]

This is possibly one of the best purchases I've ever made.

Yes. The Noble brings all kinds of goodness and bliss.