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Noble Amps Preamp

#1,901
600 Ohms said:
I agree. I hate the idea of running preamp into preamp.
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interesting. I can fully understand using just one pre/EQ tone shaping element when tracking, but with live work I have gotten any number of great combinations using multiple pre's. Currently I put a VT Deluxe in front of every amp I play thru (my own, or backlines), so right there that's 2 pre's, then when I use my Lull M4V with the OPB-3 pre, there's another. Works great IMO/IME. Of course, I will also put the Lull into passive mode and I use EQ very sparingly on the other preamps in this mix.

different approaches I suppose
 
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#1,903
pfschim said:
interesting. I can fully understand using just one pre/EQ tone shaping element when tracking, but with live work I have gotten any number of great combinations using multiple pre's. Currently I put a VT Deluxe in front of every amp I play thru (my own, or backlines), so right there that's 2 pre's, then when I use my Lull M4V with the OPB-3 pre, there's another. Works great IMO/IME. Of course, I will also put the Lull into passive mode and I use EQ very sparingly on the other preamps in this mix.

different approaches I suppose
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Jeff Bonny said:
What’s wrong with two preamps? I do it every time I use the Noble live in front of a bass amp.
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It bothers me from the principle of gain staging, not from any actual real-world objection to the sound. Also, I'm being a purist for no reason; if you had a REDDI going into a mic preamp, the REDDI has a gain stage in it, as does your mic pre, so my argument is meaningless. It's probably more the idea of two stacked EQs that I dislike. I would never record like that; my preference only. I'm sure it sounds amazing on your end, and I would never encourage you to stop.

I run Noble into an Ampeg amp and I don't like the idea of zeroing out the amp's EQ, because I don't know what flat really is. It's all in my head. Sucks to be me!
 
#1,904
600 Ohms said:
It bothers me from the principle of gain staging, not from any actual real-world objection to the sound. Also, I'm being a purist for no reason; if you had a REDDI going into a mic preamp, the REDDI has a gain stage in it, as does your mic pre, so my argument is meaningless. It's probably more the idea of two stacked EQs that I dislike. I would never record like that; my preference only. I'm sure it sounds amazing on your end, and I would never encourage you to stop.

I run Noble into an Ampeg amp and I don't like the idea of zeroing out the amp's EQ, because I don't know what flat really is. It's all in my head. Sucks to be me!
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Don’t ever sit in on a mixdown. You really won’t like what you see there..lol
 
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#1,905
hey it's all about using what you have to get tone that you like, that works for the music that you are doing and fits the gig your trying to keep. No one way to get it done and that's cool - its great that we have so many tools at our disposal these days.

I have to say that I feel like I have become addicted to the VT Deluxe .. in particular, its speaker sim (I'm pretty sure that's the part that gets my attention). The EQ section is pretty normal Tech21 Ampeg-ish, I tend to turn the character control towards the B15 side (more prominent mids and less scooped than the SVT voice), and as I like clean, warm tone (for the most part) I do not lean heavily on the Drive control. ... but there is some kind of sweet thing that happens (for my ears) with the speaker sim circuit (which is not controllable on the VT Deluxe) that my ear really craves. When I occasionally remove the VT from my signal chain, my ears are just not happy. Amps, even really nice ones (Blue Line SVT, real B15, Mesa Walkabout, Mesa WD800 ... etc.) just sound less immediate or lively to me.

I have not messed around with many outboard pre's for several years and so it will be interesting to get my hands/ears on the Noble .. which sounds very good in the demo's I have listened to here on TB and elsewhere.
 
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#1,907
after reading through this thread beginning to end, I kind of get a picture of Noble users (at least on TB) who are doing a mix of live and studio work ( I do far more live work than tracking .. like 80/20). There seems to be a focus on P basses (but not exclusively), and what the Noble does to make a P bass come alive. I'm also reading with great interest the various ways folks are using the Noble; with amps, without (IEM/FOH with monitors). And when using amps, looks like there are any number of routings being used .. straight into the input jack, into the FX return, into AUX in (where an amp provides that), or just the Noble into a power amp which I am unlikely to do with choice of amps I have on hand.

Lots of good info.

I'm primarily a 4 str Jazz player that divides 90% of my live work gigs between a Lull M4V (active/Bartolini, passive mode) and a Roscoe Beck IV which is a bit of a hybrid for Fender basses. I also gig a Turner Ren fretless 4 and a '51 P reissue with a Fralin 51 P p/u from time to time as the gig requires.

I'll be using the Noble with one of my Mesa amps: Walkabout, D800+, WD800 .. and perhaps even with the Fender Studio Bass. I'm going to have some fun working out how to run the signal chain, but that's usually a enjoyable exercise. Running the Noble into the AUX IN of the D800+ or WD800 is where I'll probably start.
 
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#1,910
pfschim said:
that's a good question. I know that the AUX In is just before the Master, but I don't know about the Damping Control. Certainly worth asking Agedhorse of Mesa.
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For a live sound i bypass the preamp section and send the direct sound to the house. My amp is my monitor basically. Works great.

I use the noble with pbass, jbass and active p/j. I rarely touch the noble eq as i like the light boosts i use it it for everything. It just works and is set and forget for me.

Noble is one of those things where you dont have to think much once you dial it in. It becomes your sound and thats that.
 
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#1,911
Agedhorse says that the Damping control (which is primarily a Power Amp thing) is post Aux In on the Subway amps, so it will be in the signal chain if the Noble is run through the Aux In.

direct from the horses mouth. :laugh:
One of the reasons I appreciate Talk Bass.
 
#1,912
pfschim said:
Agedhorse says that the Damping control (which is primarily a Power Amp thing) is post Aux In on the Subway amps, so it will be in the signal chain if the Noble is run through the Aux In.

direct from the horses mouth. :laugh:
One of the reasons I appreciate Talk Bass.
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One more reason I might pick one up in the future. That damping feature is a "killer app".
 
#1,913
600 Ohms said:
One more reason I might pick one up in the future. That damping feature is a "killer app".
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my experience with the Damping Control on the Mesa WD800 is that its fairly subtle in general (not surprising), but differences in the control level are more pronounced at higher volumes and also seem to be more detectable (at least by my old ears) thru a sealed cab (in this case a Berg NV610) vs a ported cab (CN212).

I got the Cali76CB today, should have the Noble by Wed, and expect to use it on a gig for the first time on Thur night, and again Sat, so I should be able to start getting a pretty clear sense of the pre and the new comp in pretty short order.

new toys are fun :thumbsup:
 
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#1,914
should have my Noble tomorrow. cool! :thumbsup:
got the Cali76CB yesterday and wow, thats a LOT of compressor there boy-o's. I'm glad I got the Cali76 before the Noble so I've had a chance to work with the Cali first to get used to its controls/levels etc. I'm certainly used to compression for tracking (at the engineer/producers option) and live work (EBS Multicomp and BBE Opto), but the Cali76CB is a whole 'nother level of device for me personally.

I do have some questions for the Noble users.
- I'd like to run the Cali76CB at 18v for the additional headroom that comes with 18v. The Noble I bought comes with the 18v cable, but it sounds to me like I will be getting 12v, not 18v, from this arrangement .. is that a true statement ?

- I think I saw that someone on this thread (back in the 2016/2017 posts I think) had a VT Bass on their pedal board along with the Noble.
I don't remember which member, but I'd be interested in how the VT Bass and Noble get along together as I am a very satisfied VT Deluxe
user for many years.

- Are any Noble users running it into a tube power amp section ? Not a big deal, but I'm interested to know how that paring works out. I have 2 tube amps available (Mesa 2:90 and Fender Studio Bass) and will likely try the Noble with both eventually.
 
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#1,916
600 Ohms said:
It bothers me from the principle of gain staging, not from any actual real-world objection to the sound. Also, I'm being a purist for no reason; if you had a REDDI going into a mic preamp, the REDDI has a gain stage in it, as does your mic pre, so my argument is meaningless. It's probably more the idea of two stacked EQs that I dislike. I would never record like that; my preference only. I'm sure it sounds amazing on your end, and I would never encourage you to stop.

I run Noble into an Ampeg amp and I don't like the idea of zeroing out the amp's EQ, because I don't know what flat really is. It's all in my head. Sucks to be me!
Click to expand...
Don’t get me wrong I’m with you here. The idea of the Noble in front of a similar EQ stack kinda makes me cringe. If the sound of the Noble without a bunch of additional EQ isn’t what you’re after it’s the wrong preamp for you. I’ve been using mine in front of a Quilter BB800 whose EQ is so dissimilar to the Noble that it works well without a lot of thinking.

I’m getting my 50w tube amp back next week. It’ll be interesting to hear what the Noble sounds like in front of that on a gig. I’m hoping it’s not too much of a good thing that’ll make me regret parting with the REDDI. I guess it might be kinda nice to be able to bypass the Nobles EQ going to the amp.... But I’d probably rather keep it as is and simple than deal with all the knobs and switches it’d have if Jack added every user’s “good idea”. If you want lots of bells and whistles get a Mesa.
 
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#1,917
Jeff Bonny said:
Don’t get me wrong I’m with you here. The idea of the Noble in front of a similar EQ stack kinda makes me cringe. If the sound of the Noble without a bunch of additional EQ isn’t what you’re after it’s the wrong preamp for you. I’ve been using mine in front of a Quilter BB800 whose EQ is so dissimilar the the Noble that its works well.

I’m getting my 50w tube amp back next week. It’ll be interesting to hear what the Noble sounds like in front of that on a gig. I’m hoping it’s not too much of a good thing that’ll make me regret parting with the REDDI. I guess it might be kinda nice to be able to bypass the Nobles EQ going to the amp.... But I’d probably rather keep it as is and simple than deal with all the knobs and switches it’d have if Jack added every user’s “good idea”. If you want lots of bells and whistles get a Mesa.
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Mesa is the logical conclusion of feature adds. I really admire the Subway series, actually. They sound great (I've played them all) and they do everything. I agree, Noble should be enough for most players who are into the philosophy of it—simple, two-band smiley-face EQ that pretty much makes a great thing greater. If you need more, it's still valuable, but I think the EQ on it justifies the high price, so it ought to be something you always use. Or close to it.
 
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#1,918
600 Ohms said:
Mesa is the logical conclusion of feature adds. I really admire the Subway series, actually. They sound great (I've played them all) and they do everything. I agree, Noble should be enough for most players who are into the philosophy of it—simple, two-band smiley-face EQ that pretty much makes a great thing greater. If you need more, it's still valuable, but I think the EQ on it justifies the high price, so it ought to be something you always use. Or close to it.
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yes, +1 to this.

I have a WD800 and a D800+, as well as a Walkabout. WD800 is my go to these days, so I will most likely be trying the Noble through it, both into the front end as well as the FX return and AUX In. Given that the D800+ has become a largely unused backup amp since I got the WD800, I could easily see using it as a just a power amp for the Noble thru the FX return or the Aux In.

I'm also a bit wary of stacking too many EQ's (although I do it all the time with reasonably happy results). I'm going to spend some quality time with the Noble and see how I can make it work best for me and my situation.
 
#1,920
Light touch on each EQ and you will be fine. In the studio, I put my sadowksy in active mode with the tone rolled back a fair bit and a touch of bass and treble on the pre. The Noble almost always stays at 8 o clock or 9 for both bass and treble no matter what the bass.If I use a Pbass, I just plug it in and go.

I use EQs but not with a heavy hand. The noble is very good at warming up a tone and still giving it a lot of clarity with a moderate treble boost. If you like to play with a rolled back tone, you can get insanely warm sounds out of it that still are audible in the mix. If you are playing wide open with everything and boosting the treble high on your bass, then yeah, I probably wouldn’t add more on the Noble. But that’s not really the sound I am going for.
 
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