Noble Amps Preamp

[pfschim]

wow, great to hear of simple fixes.
My Noble is quiet as can be, but if I run into something similar I'll know where to look first.

 

[Spreck76]

Glad it helped my man.

That was totally it. There was some debris on the ports that a little keyboard duster took care of.

Good call, brother!

 

[Christian Houmann]

Hi Friends. This may have been discussed before. Have you changed the tubes in your Noble preamp and which ones do you uses?

Thanks

 

[bass08053]

Hi Friends. This may have been discussed before. Have you changed the tubes in your Noble preamp and which ones do you uses?

Thanks

I haven’t yet, but per the website, these are the replacement tubes.

 

[Levin Hannaford]

Hi Friends. This may have been discussed before. Have you changed the tubes in your Noble preamp and which ones do you uses?

Thanks

I put in a set of these. Absolutely no discernible difference.

 

[N. Kentucky Bass]

Aha, the rabbit hole of tube swapping..... GLWT!

 

[Bassworship1]

I spent enough to pay half down on another Noble trying all kinds of tubes. NOS and new versions of multiple brands and didn’t find anything I liked better than the originals.

 

[IvanBassist]

I spent enough to pay half down on another Noble trying all kinds of tubes. NOS and new versions of multiple brands and didn’t find anything I liked better than the originals.

What was different between the originals and the other ones?

 

[scubaduba]

Any tonal difference in tubes in the Noble will be negligible at best.

 

[Bassworship1]

What was different between the originals and the other ones?

All of my tube rolling was in a Khan. I've never tried different in my Nobles. In the Khan a found a couple that sounded thicker and warmer and a few that sounded a little more open. None sounded better to my ears than the original in a live band setting though.

 

[scubaduba]

I spent enough to pay half down on another Noble trying all kinds of tubes. NOS and new versions of multiple brands and didn’t find anything I liked better than the originals.

For the sake of clarity in that this is a thread about the Noble, capturing that in this quoted posting Bassworship1 is talking about tube rolling in the Khan DI not the Noble.

 

[Bassworship1]

For the sake of clarity in that this is a thread about the Noble, capturing that in this quoted posting Bassworship1 is talking about tube rolling in the Khan DI not the Noble.

I knew what thread I was in. Simply commented on the fact that tube rolling doesn't always equate positive changes. Are you guys patrolling every thread like this lol. Get's a little old.

 

[pfschim]

Just wanted to drop back into this Noble DI thread and comment on how much I still appreciate what my Noble brings to the sonic party.

I had several opportunities to play without it in the past few months .. situations where I just wanted a quick grab and go rig for a rehearsal or even a couple of small gigs.
In those instances I ended up with a Mesa WD800 and a Berg CN112 ... with my Lull M4V. Not a shabby rig at all right there. But! when I would get over being such a lazy guy and put my small pedalboard (Cali76 => Noble DI) back in the signal chain, I always got/heard the difference, and improvement, in my tone and sonic satisfaction. So, other than very limited situations, I'm back to grabbing the Cali76/Noble DI board when I head to a gig or a session. Such a great combination.

on edit: ... and FWIW, I never heard any meaningful difference when I did a bit of tube swapping with Noble either.

 

[Levin Hannaford]

when I would get over being such a lazy guy and put my small pedalboard (Cali76 => Noble DI) back in the signal chain, I always got/heard the difference, and improvement, in my tone and sonic satisfaction.

Agreed!

I played a pair of larger outdoor bookings a bit back. We played two nights in a row and then returned a few weeks later for two additional nights. On the first night, the sound engineer took his line from the Noble and the second night his assistant used one of their stock DI units. The engineer came up after the first set and politely asked if I had changed basses or pickups because "Something just sounded a little bit better last night" We switched back to the Noble and we were golden again. When I returned for the follow up bookings, he made a special note to 'Use bass player's DI' hahah!

 

[Jamvan]

Well, after believing that the Noble was all hype and not worth the price it commanded, I stumbled into some extra funds and picked one up from the classifieds. Never fully believing it would be $700 better than my Sonic Farm 2DI4 or add $1000 more tube-y goodness than my Broughton ETDI, I thought if it wasn’t, I could easily sell it and recoup my funds.

But I was wrong. I now fully get it.

I picked it up in early September and did some quick testing of it with my home setup, running it against the previous setups both into the front of my amp (Genzler Magellan 800) as well as into the effects return and found that the Noble into the front of my amp added such a musical clarity and, I can’t describe it, an ear tickle that will likely be lost in the cacophony of a live setting but is immensely pleasing to me that neither the 2DI4 nor the ETDI brought to my tone.

Here I’m testing it. Signal chain is Bass -> Noble -> Amp.

This was September 9th. I only say this because I’ve become VERY cautious of introducing new elements into my live rig without extensive testing to make sure it doesn’t upset the apple cart when I do.

Well, here it is sitting on top of my rig September 10th (arrow on left).

And again September 11th.

And September 17th.

And September 18th…wait.

…there wasn’t any room for my full rig in September 18th so I didn't use it, going for simplicity and a quick tear down instead of sonic bliss. Well, that’s the last time I did that. It actually made me upset that I didn’t use it.

So rather than continue to treat it as an add-on to my main rig, I’ve now made it a permanent member and re-flowed my entire board set up to accommodate it. Last in the chain with DI easily accessible if I’m running direct.

Now to see what all the fuss is about over a Cali76-TX…

 

[Blue Swede]

Well, after believing that the Noble was all hype and not worth the price it commanded, I stumbled into some extra funds and picked one up from the classifieds. Never fully believing it would be $700 better than my Sonic Farm 2DI4 or add $1000 more tube-y goodness than my Broughton ETDI, I thought if it wasn’t, I could easily sell it and recoup my funds.

But I was wrong. I now fully get it.

I picked it up in early September and did some quick testing of it with my home setup, running it against the previous setups both into the front of my amp (Genzler Magellan 800) as well as into the effects return and found that the Noble into the front of my amp added such a musical clarity and, I can’t describe it, an ear tickle that will likely be lost in the cacophony of a live setting but is immensely pleasing to me that neither the 2DI4 nor the ETDI brought to my tone.

Here I’m testing it. Signal chain is Bass -> Noble -> Amp.
View attachment 4425368

This was September 9th. I only say this because I’ve become VERY cautious of introducing new elements into my live rig without extensive testing to make sure it doesn’t upset the apple cart when I do.

Well, here it is sitting on top of my rig September 10th (arrow on left).
View attachment 4425379

And again September 11th.
View attachment 4425392

And September 17th.
View attachment 4425369

And September 18th…wait.
View attachment 4425393

…there wasn’t any room for my full rig in September 18th so I didn't use it, going for simplicity and a quick tear down instead of sonic bliss. Well, that’s the last time I did that. It actually made me upset that I didn’t use it.

So rather than continue to treat it as an add-on to my main rig, I’ve now made it a permanent member and re-flowed my entire board set up to accommodate it. Last in the chain with DI easily accessible if I’m running direct.
View attachment 4425370

Now to see what all the fuss is about over a Cali76-TX…

Thats is one tasty pedal board you’ve got there! Out of all the pedals Ive tried the Noble has stuck with me on every iteration (and the FEA DB-CL), it’s just a great piece of gear that in its ”simplicity” just adds some magic to your tone. Good luck with the big box Cali!

 

[shwashwa]

Well, after believing that the Noble was all hype and not worth the price it commanded, I stumbled into some extra funds and picked one up from the classifieds. Never fully believing it would be $700 better than my Sonic Farm 2DI4 or add $1000 more tube-y goodness than my Broughton ETDI, I thought if it wasn’t, I could easily sell it and recoup my funds.

But I was wrong. I now fully get it.

I picked it up in early September and did some quick testing of it with my home setup, running it against the previous setups both into the front of my amp (Genzler Magellan 800) as well as into the effects return and found that the Noble into the front of my amp added such a musical clarity and, I can’t describe it, an ear tickle that will likely be lost in the cacophony of a live setting but is immensely pleasing to me that neither the 2DI4 nor the ETDI brought to my tone.

Here I’m testing it. Signal chain is Bass -> Noble -> Amp.
View attachment 4425368

This was September 9th. I only say this because I’ve become VERY cautious of introducing new elements into my live rig without extensive testing to make sure it doesn’t upset the apple cart when I do.

Well, here it is sitting on top of my rig September 10th (arrow on left).
View attachment 4425379

And again September 11th.
View attachment 4425392

And September 17th.
View attachment 4425369

And September 18th…wait.
View attachment 4425393

…there wasn’t any room for my full rig in September 18th so I didn't use it, going for simplicity and a quick tear down instead of sonic bliss. Well, that’s the last time I did that. It actually made me upset that I didn’t use it.

So rather than continue to treat it as an add-on to my main rig, I’ve now made it a permanent member and re-flowed my entire board set up to accommodate it. Last in the chain with DI easily accessible if I’m running direct.
View attachment 4425370

Now to see what all the fuss is about over a Cali76-TX…

kinda surprised that it sounds more "tubey" than the sonic farm. that's a high end piece of gear. since the noble has a fenderish tone stack, do you think maybe its the mid scoop you're hearing and liking? after all, mid scoop is popular for a reason, because its pleasing to the ear ( although i usually mid boost in a mix.) the sonic farm is probably ruler flat. i wonder if that's the source of the differences you're hearing?

 

[Jamvan]

kinda surprised that it sounds more "tubey" than the sonic farm. that's a high end piece of gear. since the noble has a fenderish tone stack, do you think maybe its the mid scoop you're hearing and liking? after all, mid scoop is popular for a reason, because its pleasing to the ear ( although i usually mid boost in a mix.) the sonic farm is probably ruler flat. i wonder if that's the source of the differences you're hearing?

More tube-y than the Broughton ETDI. The 2DI4 is a great piece of kit which I’d been primarily using for home recording as it wasn’t easily integrated into my live sound.

And I do think the EQ/Filter controls on the Noble contribute greatly to why I found it more tube-y than the Broughton which is just a tube with an input/output and no direct tone controls.

 

[TREYontheBASS]

More tube-y than the Broughton ETDI. The 2DI4 is a great piece of kit which I’d been primarily using for home recording as it wasn’t easily integrated into my live sound.

And I do think the EQ/Filter controls on the Noble contribute greatly to why I found it more tube-y than the Broughton which is just a tube with an input/output and no direct tone controls.

I definitely find the Noble to be a bit sterile when it’s set completely flat. However, with both bands boosted a bit, albeit a little scooped, just sounds ‘right’ having a bass run through it and gets big and fat. So present in the mix. And the less effects/gain staging you run with it the better imo.

 

[Jamvan]

I definitely find the Noble to be a bit sterile when it’s set completely flat. However, with both bands boosted a bit, albeit a little scooped, just sounds ‘right’ having a bass run through it and gets big and fat. So present in the mix. And the less effects/gain staging you run with it the better imo.

You running yours with IEM or into an amp, Trey? And which bass are you primarily using these days?