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Noble Amps Preamp

#2,261
3rdcurve said:
I see a dingwall in your avatar. Does the noble work it’s magic with non P style basses too?
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I play mostly jazz basses with my Noble! And imma say it’s one heck of a tone, I like it with my 70’s AC a lot, but the Sadowsky ain’t too shabby either! Both my AC and Sadowsky has Singles, so it’sn definitely edgier and vintage sounding. I also tried my Super J5 and Super PJ5 with the Noble, and they sound massive!

My 71’ Musicmaster w/ flats is a completely different vibe. And I like it a lot, but that’s closer to pbass than a jazz.
 
#2,263
I'll chime in and say that all my basses sound great with the Noble too.
Lull M4V
Fender Roscoe Beck IV
Fender '51P MIJ reissue
Rick Turner Renaissance 4 fretless

mostly played thru a Mesa WD800 into either a Berg CN212 or more recently a Berg NV212t

much good!
 
#2,264
I keep finding new ways to use this box. Here are a few:

Send your bass synth through it. Kind of a no brainer there, but its a simple way to add some beef to your signal.

If you are a producer - Send your drums through it. It works amazing on kicks, you can give them a lot of bass boost that way. I sample a lot of my kicks through it now.
 
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#2,267
AngelCrusher said:
I keep finding new ways to use this box. Here are a few:

Send your bass synth through it. Kind of a no brainer there, but its a simple way to add some beef to your signal.

If you are a producer - Send your drums through it. It works amazing on kicks, you can give them a lot of bass boost that way. I sample a lot of my kicks through it now.
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Again,

You can put ANY signal through of any instrument, and get that signal “Noble-tubified” and improved. Basses, guitars, keys, synths, drum machines... anything. There is no limit to the uses of the Noble.

I’m not sure why it’s intended market seems limited only towards bassists, in fact. Maybe guitarists as a group are dolts?
 
#2,268
Admiral Akbar said:
Again,

You can put ANY signal through of any instrument, and get that signal “Noble-tubified” and improved. Basses, guitars, keys, synths, drum machines... anything. There is no limit to the uses of the Noble.

I’m not sure why it’s intended market seems limited only towards bassists, in fact. Maybe guitarists as a group are dolts?
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Well I think there is a roll off on the high end. So yeah, you can put anything through it, but not everything will be improved. It may take some highs off of the guitar. I will try that again to verify but I wouldn’t say guitarists are dolts for not using it. The EQ also doesn’t really make sense for them either.
 
#2,269
AngelCrusher said:
Well I think there is a roll off on the high end. So yeah, you can put anything through it, but not everything will be improved. It may take some highs off of the guitar. I will try that again to verify but I wouldn’t say guitarists are dolts for not using it. The EQ also doesn’t really make sense for them either.
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If I recall correctly, Jack designed the Noble originally for guitar players. Then ya know bass players got into it.
 
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#2,270
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#2,272
Infidelity said:
Ohhh I stand corrected.
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Yeah, I would have been stunned if that was the case. This preamp is not voiced for guitar. I mean, you can still send one through it, but I’m pretty sure it rolls highs off. Thats why I recommended it for kicks and bass synth. I’m going to try other things as well, like snare samples - but I’d probably have to layer that with something snappy on top.

Ill do some more analysis when I get into the studio again, but the main thing is this - treat it like a preamp for your low end sounds and things will be good. My next experiment will be seeing what it does to some bass patches I made on a Prophet.
 
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#2,274
AngelCrusher said:
Yeah, I would have been stunned if that was the case. This preamp is not voiced for guitar. I mean, you can still send one through it, but I’m pretty sure it rolls highs off. Thats why I recommended it for kicks and bass synth. I’m going to try other things as well, like snare samples - but I’d probably have to layer that with something snappy on top.

Ill do some more analysis when I get into the studio again, but the main thing is this - treat it like a preamp for your low end sounds and things will be good. My next experiment will be seeing what it does to some bass patches I made on a Prophet.
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Im sure the Noble was intended for bass - but just like how guitar sounds good through many tube bass amps (Fender bassman, Ampeg amps, etc), the Noble handles guitar VERY well.

I actually keep the treble knob around 9-10:00 when using the Noble on guitar. I can send you sound files of the guitar, or of keyboards/synth - I don't think you'll miss the high end, unless we hear guitar differently, which is certainly possible.
 
#2,275
Admiral Akbar said:
Im sure the Noble was intended for bass - but just like how guitar sounds good through many tube bass amps (Fender bassman, Ampeg amps, etc), the Noble handles guitar VERY well.

I actually keep the treble knob around 9-10:00 when using the Noble on guitar. I can send you sound files of the guitar, or of keyboards/synth - I don't think you'll miss the high end, unless we hear guitar differently, which is certainly possible.
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Oh yeah, I love guitar through a bassman but I usually layer it with another amp as well. My main point is that if I am looking for a guitar sound, or sound in general with a lot of high end presence, the Noble is not my go to choice. I worked with a producer back in the day that used to get really amazing Tele sounds and part of it was how he processed the 10k region. So sometimes those things matter to me, other times, I like it more rolled off and the Noble is awesome for that.
 
#2,276
Yeah man, the Noble wouldn’t be my gold standard amp for a twangy telecaster sound.

But in a pinch, you could make the Noble work with a guitar. Really convenient if you’re recording scratch tracks at home and can’t make a lot of noise.

The Noble sounds great with a Rhodes or Wurlitzer, too.
 
#2,277
So, quick question for all you Noble users.
I love mine and use it all the time since adding it to my gear last year. Great tone monster for sure.
I was running it in rehearsal recently, at near gig volume (fairly modest volume actually .. nothing crazy) and I started to get the chimey sound I associate with failing/microphonic tubes. I tapped the tube slots on the Noble and the noise seemed to go away .. but also came back a day later in the same situation. So, I figured the NOS tubes that came with my used Noble have just signaled they need to be replaced ... all good, I have several replacement options at hand (unfortunately not NOS). But, since that happened about a week ago, it has not happened again.

So, would you all advise to just go ahead and replace the current ECC82's ? Easy enough, except I have the Noble zip tied to my pedal board and while that's not a huge deal, I'd rather not have to cut the ties if the tubes are perhaps ok.

any thoughts ?
 
#2,278
pfschim said:
So, quick question for all you Noble users.
I love mine and use it all the time since adding it to my gear last year. Great tone monster for sure.
I was running it in rehearsal recently, at near gig volume (fairly modest volume actually .. nothing crazy) and I started to get the chimey sound I associate with failing/microphonic tubes. I tapped the tube slots on the Noble and the noise seemed to go away .. but also came back a day later in the same situation. So, I figured the NOS tubes that came with my used Noble have just signaled they need to be replaced ... all good, I have several replacement options at hand (unfortunately not NOS). But, since that happened about a week ago, it has not happened again.

So, would you all advise to just go ahead and replace the current ECC82's ? Easy enough, except I have the Noble zip tied to my pedal board and while that's not a huge deal, I'd rather not have to cut the ties if the tubes are perhaps ok.

any thoughts ?
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Can’t offer any advice on your dilemma, but I’m curious about what that “chimey” sound is, and what it might sound like. I haven’t much experience with tubes amps over the years, so I’m behind the curve a bit when it comes to understanding these kinds of symptoms. Just trying to be educated so I know what to listen for with my Noble (or other tube device) in the future.
 
#2,279
jondiener said:
Can’t offer any advice on your dilemma, but I’m curious about what that “chimey” sound is, and what it might sound like. I haven’t much experience with tubes amps over the years, so I’m behind the curve a bit when it comes to understanding these kinds of symptoms. Just trying to be educated so I know what to listen for with my Noble (or other tube device) in the future.
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From: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Preamp Tubes. Preamp tubes usually cause problems through noise or microphonics. If noise, you will hear hiss, crackling, popping or similar issues. If you hear squeal, hum or feedback, it is typically a microphonic tube. Noise from microphonic tubes will typically increase with a volume increase.​

This video demonstrates what a microphonic preamp tube sounds like.

 
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#2,280
N. Kentucky Bass said:
From: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Preamp Tubes. Preamp tubes usually cause problems through noise or microphonics. If noise, you will hear hiss, crackling, popping or similar issues. If you hear squeal, hum or feedback, it is typically a microphonic tube. Noise from microphonic tubes will typically increase with a volume increase.​

This video demonstrates what a microphonic preamp tube sounds like.

Click to expand...


A-ha! Perfect demonstration of that symptom. Thanks for posting, @Ukiah Bass !
 
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