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Noble Amps Preamp

#3,121
My Noble is weeks from the estimate I was given on shipping. Though I've played bass for over 2 decades, I've stayed away from effects completely, relying on everything else in the chain to get the sound I wanted.

But I've developed a recent interest in looking at effects, notably filters (HP, LP, envelope) and compressors. I know almost nothing about these other than broadly what they do. So I'm curious on which of these effects (types and models) people have found a lot of success on with the Noble preamp, so I can get reasonably good signal as I begin to dive in.
 
#3,122
Juggernaught said:
My Noble is weeks from the estimate I was given on shipping. Though I've played bass for over 2 decades, I've stayed away from effects completely, relying on everything else in the chain to get the sound I wanted.

But I've developed a recent interest in looking at effects, notably filters (HP, LP, envelope) and compressors. I know almost nothing about these other than broadly what they do. So I'm curious on which of these effects (types and models) people have found a lot of success on with the Noble preamp, so I can get reasonably good signal as I begin to dive in.
Click to expand...

There seems to be a bunch of TBers who love using effects with Noble. I, for one, am mystified how any bassist playing in a band on the stage could possibly know how the instrument sounds out in the audience within the band mix--and how they could intelligently tweak the bass-only signal to some better state for the overall mix despite not having a clue what the bass/mix is "out there." That's the job of the sound engineer. And to do it well, it seems preferable to give the sound engineer a clean signal. The only effect I use is an HPF, gently to be sure. Bedroom tweaking is a different matter, and if you've got the dough for this hobby, go for it!

I've played my Noble since late 2016. I love it pure and naked. But that's just my opinion.

Noble-HPF-Tuner.JPG
 
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#3,123
Juggernaught said:
My Noble is weeks from the estimate I was given on shipping. Though I've played bass for over 2 decades, I've stayed away from effects completely, relying on everything else in the chain to get the sound I wanted.

But I've developed a recent interest in looking at effects, notably filters (HP, LP, envelope) and compressors. I know almost nothing about these other than broadly what they do. So I'm curious on which of these effects (types and models) people have found a lot of success on with the Noble preamp, so I can get reasonably good signal as I begin to dive in.
Click to expand...
What I can say is that EVERYTHING sounds better through the Noble. I literally mean everything. All effects. Electric or double bass. I always tell people that I don’t even like to mess around the house without the Noble plugged in.
 
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#3,124
N. Kentucky Bass said:
There seems to be a bunch of TBers who love using effects with Noble. I, for one, am mystified how any bassist playing in a band on the stage could possibly know how the instrument sounds out in the audience within the band mix--and how they could intelligently tweak the bass-only signal to some better state for the overall mix despite not having a clue what the bass/mix is "out there." That's the job of the sound engineer. And to do it well, it seems preferable to give the sound engineer a clean signal. The only effect I use is an HPF, gently to be sure. Bedroom tweaking is a different matter, and if you've got the dough for this hobby, go for it!

I've played my Noble since late 2016. I love it pure and naked. But that's just my opinion.

View attachment 7300442
Click to expand...
It is amazing what it does pure like you said. Most of the time I just throw a tuner and DCX bass in it.
 
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#3,125
N. Kentucky Bass said:
There seems to be a bunch of TBers who love using effects with Noble. I, for one, am mystified how any bassist playing in a band on the stage could possibly know how the instrument sounds out in the audience within the band mix--and how they could intelligently tweak the bass-only signal to some better state for the overall mix despite not having a clue what the bass/mix is "out there." That's the job of the sound engineer. And to do it well, it seems preferable to give the sound engineer a clean signal. The only effect I use is an HPF, gently to be sure. Bedroom tweaking is a different matter, and if you've got the dough for this hobby, go for it!

I've played my Noble since late 2016. I love it pure and naked. But that's just my opinion.

View attachment 7300442
Click to expand...
Well said!
 
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#3,126
N. Kentucky Bass said:
There seems to be a bunch of TBers who love using effects with Noble. I, for one, am mystified how any bassist playing in a band on the stage could possibly know how the instrument sounds out in the audience within the band mix--and how they could intelligently tweak the bass-only signal to some better state for the overall mix despite not having a clue what the bass/mix is "out there." That's the job of the sound engineer. And to do it well, it seems preferable to give the sound engineer a clean signal. The only effect I use is an HPF, gently to be sure. Bedroom tweaking is a different matter, and if you've got the dough for this hobby, go for it!

I've played my Noble since late 2016. I love it pure and naked. But that's just my opinion.

View attachment 7300442
Click to expand...
My understanding of that HFP is it's mostly to help with the mix in live settings.

I should clarify: I'm not currently gigging, and am mostly interested in tone- and dynamics-surfing / studio / etc.

That's a wonderfully simple board though...
 
#3,127
Juggernaught said:
My Noble is weeks from the estimate I was given on shipping. Though I've played bass for over 2 decades, I've stayed away from effects completely, relying on everything else in the chain to get the sound I wanted.

But I've developed a recent interest in looking at effects, notably filters (HP, LP, envelope) and compressors. I know almost nothing about these other than broadly what they do. So I'm curious on which of these effects (types and models) people have found a lot of success on with the Noble preamp, so I can get reasonably good signal as I begin to dive in.
Click to expand...

I have an HX ONE on the board in case I ever need a particular effect but it’s mostly Cali76 (big box) into the Noble. It sounds great and has a nice “feel” to it.
 
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#3,131
Juggernaught said:
Nice!

So many compressors. FET, optical, etc. Since tube preamps “compress” signal in their own way, it’s unclear to me what’s best. I am looking at cali and empress, as those are popular here.
Click to expand...
I used a Cali for a while. It was cool, sounded nice in my home studio where I could hear its affects on the bass tone. But I keep coming back to the same argument: how do you know (on the stage) what your bass signal needs in the full mix out there in the audience? I can see the argument for some effects, like a fuzz pedal that puts distinctive character on the signal. But compression can be such a subtle thing, and I contend that one's better left in the hands of the sound engineer. You play the instrument as well as you can, and let the mix professional handle those other details!

(The space between my Noble and HPF is to easily swap effects in and out just to see how they sound. Most of the time it's empty 'cause I like the Noble bare and naked!)

Noble-Cali76CB-HPFpre-TurboTuner.JPG
 
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#3,132
N. Kentucky Bass said:
I used a Cali for a while. It was cool, sounded nice in my home studio where I could hear its affects on the bass tone. But I keep coming back to the same argument: how do you know (on the stage) what your bass signal needs in the full mix out there in the audience? I can see the argument for some effects, like a fuzz pedal that puts distinctive character on the signal. But compression can be such a subtle thing, and I contend that one's better left in the hands of the sound engineer. You play the instrument as well as you can, and let the mix professional handle those other details!

(The space between my Noble and HPF is to easily swap effects in and out just to see how they sound. Most of the time it's empty 'cause I like the Noble bare and naked!)

View attachment 7301911
Click to expand...
Nice.

Yeh I get that. When I was gigging salsa, I went bare. Downgraded from Alembics to Sadowsky and baby bass. A lot of salsa bass works well live with compression in retrospect because it’s way more about how it feels than sounds.

For me, gigging isn’t going to return, so I want to see how much I can pull out of the setup. I do prefer less effects: too many parameters is a headache, but compression / filters / envelope sounds like a simple enough place to do not too much.
 
#3,134
N. Kentucky Bass said:
I used a Cali for a while. It was cool, sounded nice in my home studio where I could hear its affects on the bass tone. But I keep coming back to the same argument: how do you know (on the stage) what your bass signal needs in the full mix out there in the audience? I can see the argument for some effects, like a fuzz pedal that puts distinctive character on the signal. But compression can be such a subtle thing, and I contend that one's better left in the hands of the sound engineer. You play the instrument as well as you can, and let the mix professional handle those other details!

(The space between my Noble and HPF is to easily swap effects in and out just to see how they sound. Most of the time it's empty 'cause I like the Noble bare and naked!)

View attachment 7301911
Click to expand...
The sound engineer is going use what is given unless there is a very compelling reason not to. They just don't have time to get into that level of nuance. If you needed to compress it in the recording, a compressor live is likely in order and as long as you don't get stupid with it, it won't be an issue
 
#3,135
N. Kentucky Bass said:
I used a Cali for a while. It was cool, sounded nice in my home studio where I could hear its affects on the bass tone. But I keep coming back to the same argument: how do you know (on the stage) what your bass signal needs in the full mix out there in the audience? I can see the argument for some effects, like a fuzz pedal that puts distinctive character on the signal. But compression can be such a subtle thing, and I contend that one's better left in the hands of the sound engineer. You play the instrument as well as you can, and let the mix professional handle those other details!
Click to expand...
💯 if you have a sound engineer then just bring the noble or reddi. for the rest of us...
 
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#3,136
Juggernaught said:
My Noble is weeks from the estimate I was given on shipping. Though I've played bass for over 2 decades, I've stayed away from effects completely, relying on everything else in the chain to get the sound I wanted.

But I've developed a recent interest in looking at effects, notably filters (HP, LP, envelope) and compressors. I know almost nothing about these other than broadly what they do. So I'm curious on which of these effects (types and models) people have found a lot of success on with the Noble preamp, so I can get reasonably good signal as I begin to dive in.
Click to expand...
The Broughton RFE is the perfect match to the Noble.
You get variable high- and lowpass filtering and a parametric Mid EQ on top. But not only that, the filters are resonant!
This is, hands down, the sweetest combo of pedals. The RFE is made to be used with the Noble.
 
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#3,137
TheArchitect said:
I am still not convinced... I have not heard one in person but I have not heard a side by side comparison yet where it stood out they way some claim. Its a good unit, but in a blind test I am not sure you pick it out from the other comparable offerings. Even the simple JDI sounds awfully close
Click to expand...

Do you live near the Baltimore - DC metro area by any chance?
 

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