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Noble Amps Preamp

Hey all.

Wondering if any of you fine folks might know of someone looking to sell their Noble? I'm on the hunt for one and, although I have no problem supporting Jack with an order, I'd be thrilled to find a gently used one that could be had a little less expensively and bit sooner.

Any help or any leads would be much appreciated! Thanks!
 
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Hey all.

Wondering if any of you fine folks might know of someone looking to sell their Noble? I'm on the hunt for one and, although I have no problem supporting Jack with an order, I'd be thrilled to find a gently used one that could be had a little less expensively and bit sooner.

Any help or any leads would be much appreciated! Thanks!

Keep checking the TB Classifieds. They pop up somewhat frequently but are usually gone in less than a day. I think there may be a way to set an alert for a classified item but I don't know what it is.
 
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Hey all.

Wondering if any of you fine folks might know of someone looking to sell their Noble? I'm on the hunt for one and, although I have no problem supporting Jack with an order, I'd be thrilled to find a gently used one that could be had a little less expensively and bit sooner.

Any help or any leads would be much appreciated! Thanks!

Hey Phil!

You’re going to love it when you get one. It’s actually cheaper to get one from Jack from the prices I’ve been seeing on here if you don’t mind a little wait. It’s worth it.
-Rich
 
Hi guys,

I've been asked to produce a demo the Noble preamp for a local store. Having not played or owned the Noble, just a few Qs...
  1. If i ran it completely flat, would it still impart any tone shaping from the tubes?
  2. How are you guys using the Low Cut switch in conjunction with the Bass/Treble?
  3. If I ran it with an Amp sim/IR set up from my Line 6 Helix, would it make more sense of put it in the FX loop before the Amp sim and IR or just keep it at the end?
  4. How do yo you use an active bass's preamp in conjunction with the Noble's?
  5. What would you want to see and find helpful from yet another Noble demo?
Thanks!
 
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I’d love to see a decent sample of the noble’s live sound pushing a readily available class d head like a GK’s power section. I had a Jule Monique for awhile and doing that with a Glock head I had at the time was one of the best bass tones I’ve heard, but none of the Noble demos really let me know if it’ll get there too. Although the DI samples are always awesome!
 
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I’d love to see a decent sample of the noble’s live sound pushing a readily available class d head like a GK’s power section. I had a Jule Monique for awhile and doing that with a Glock head I had at the time was one of the best bass tones I’ve heard, but none of the Noble demos really let me know if it’ll get there too. Although the DI samples are always awesome!

I don't have a sample to share but I've run my Noble through my Genz Streamliner 900 effects return and it sounds very good. No DI, just amp.
 
Hi guys,

I've been asked to produce a demo the Noble preamp for a local store. Having not played or owned the Noble, just a few Qs...
  1. If i ran it completely flat, would it still impart any tone shaping from the tubes?
  2. How are you guys using the Low Cut switch in conjunction with the Bass/Treble?
  3. If I ran it with an Amp sim/IR set up from my Line 6 Helix, would it make more sense of put it in the FX loop before the Amp sim and IR or just keep it at the end?
  4. How do yo you use an active bass's preamp in conjunction with the Noble's?
  5. What would you want to see and find helpful from yet another Noble demo?
Thanks!

By the numbers as best I can answer:

1. Yes it should add some tubeiness. I would think a lot depends on what amp you're using and where you set it's controls. Remember that the Noble is a clean machine and won't really OD by itself. You could probably use the Noble to OD you amp.

2. I've engaged the low cut and boosted the bass knob up to 2 or 3 o'clock. Fat and tight bass. Treble set to taste. I've also used the low cut as the HPF it's intended to be to cut boominess.

3. I'd think it depends on what you want to use as a DI and where you whnt your tone shaping to come from. I've got no experience with a Helix/IR or amp sim.

4. Some folks like to eq from the bass, some from the amp and some from both. This is probably equipment dependent.

5. Everything. :D

*In hindsight, that probably was no help at all.
 
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Hi guys,

I've been asked to produce a demo the Noble preamp for a local store. Having not played or owned the Noble, just a few Qs...
  1. If i ran it completely flat, would it still impart any tone shaping from the tubes?
  2. How are you guys using the Low Cut switch in conjunction with the Bass/Treble?
  3. If I ran it with an Amp sim/IR set up from my Line 6 Helix, would it make more sense of put it in the FX loop before the Amp sim and IR or just keep it at the end?
  4. How do yo you use an active bass's preamp in conjunction with the Noble's?
  5. What would you want to see and find helpful from yet another Noble demo?
Thanks!
So, here's my 2 cents for most of your questions based only on my experience. For reference, I've been using my Noble for about 3 years for both live work and sessions.

1. Completely flat, the Noble still imparts some tube influence on the tone. IME it's more noticeable when tracking vs live work.
2. I don't usually use the low cut switch. But as I do like to turn the bass and treble controls up from time to time. If I run the bass control over 10:00, I do use the low cut to tame it a bit. FWIW, for live work, I usually run my Noble with Vol set at ~10:00, Bass = 10:00, Treble = 1:00. Sounds great thru my Mesa WD800 and Berg NV212t.
3. no idea
4. I usually run my basses in passive mode when running the Noble, I have just found that works better than stacking too many EQ sections.
5. can't help here, I've used my Noble in nearly all working situations and don't feel I need any more info on it.

good luck!
 
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1. I think it always adds a certain something to your tone. But like someone said, probably more noticeable in a studio than a live setting when everything is set flat.

2. I use it for room correction if the need is there. Live, I’ve never turned bass up high enough to feel like I need the high pass filter engaged because of it. It’s a very gentle slope though so there is probably good ways to use it musically, especially If you have a passive instrument.

3. I always keep it last in my chain, the XLR output is just so quiet and sonically optimal that it would be a waste of 1000$ to put it anywhere else, IMHO. For me when I do run a cab sim I prefer it before the noble anyhow.

4. Sadowsky metro jazz 5, 2 x hum cancelling - in active mode I keep the bass turned up about 1/10 of a turn and treble is almost always off. I roll the tone off depending on the song.

5. Maybe do a test to see where you think the noble makes more sense in a helix setup? First/in between amp & IR/last.

looking forward to demo!:thumbsup:
 
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It just figures that as soon as I place an order for one of these things, one would pop up in the classifieds. That's just how my luck runs...:rollno::banghead::crying::laugh::roflmao:

I got to have a small email "conversation" with Jack about some gear choices and his thoughts. He was very kind and responded pretty quickly, on a Sunday! Since I seem to not be the typical Noble user, with my gear choices, I wanted to make sure I was on the right path with my thoughts. He answered my questions and overcame my reservations. I gotta give it up for that.

A few extra bucks to support Jack seems like a small price to pay to me.:thumbsup:
 
Thanks for your feedback guys.

And for live use, are you preferring to put it in the FX loop directly to the power amp sections and thereby bypassing your physical amps, or just to through front of your amps? *(Noble > Amp > cab?)

FX return here.
 
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Thanks for your feedback guys.

And for live use, are you preferring to put it in the FX loop directly to the power amp sections and thereby bypassing your physical amps, or just to through front of your amps? *(Noble > Amp > cab?)

i use the fx return on my TH500 and the input on my DB751. Love both options. It’s impressive when you use the fx return and only dial in tone with your bass and the noble. I don’t miss the other controls with active or passive basses
 
Thanks for your feedback guys.

And for live use, are you preferring to put it in the FX loop directly to the power amp sections and thereby bypassing your physical amps, or just to through front of your amps? *(Noble > Amp > cab?)
I have two primary amps that I work with, Mesa WD800 and Mesa Walkabout.

With the WD800, I run the Noble into the front of the amp. I keep the Mesa EQ pretty flat and use the WD800 EQ and HPF as needed, not the Noble HPF (as a general rule).

The Walkabout is the only amp that I tried where I liked using the Noble into the FX return. I think it has something to do with the fact that the Walkabout FX return circuit has a 12AX7 tube stage that drives the torroidial power section. In the end, I still use the Noble into the front of the WA too (with fairly flat EQ settings) ... I guess its just easier that way and it sounds wonderful !

When I first got the Noble, I tried it with several amps I have at my disposal besides the Mesa's: Fender Studio Bass, Ampeg SVT 6Pro, Ampeg PF500. I did not care for how the Ampegs worked with the Noble into their FX returns. The Fender does not have an FX loop and I found that it really did not benefit from the Noble in any noticeable way, possibly because it's already a Fender all tube amp and the Noble's fender-ish EQ character did not really enhance any of that very much. I also don't drag the Fender out very much so that was never going to be a commonly used set-up.
 

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