Noble flipping?

[logdrum]

That's not very noble of you.

 

[MuseChaser]

Why is scalping a physical product any more admirable or ethical than scalping a ticket, i.e., buying up a bunch of things that will prevent others from buying them (in this case, clogging up the production time wit your units), and that you have no intention of using, simply to charge a higher amount? That's what we need... more "middlemen"... sigh.

Thumbs down. Way down.

 

[Bonafide]

The winning strategy for me is to enjoy the observation at the current fad (both of seller and buyer) regardless of item.

"A fad, trend, or craze is any form of collective behavior that develops within a culture, a generation or social group in which a group of people enthusiastically follow an impulse for a short time period. Fads are objects or behaviors that achieve short-lived popularity but fade away."

I have been member for over 22 years (24 in total) and this is as consistently predictable as the seasons. (Bass and guitar) All markets eventually get saturated and at that point the reality of the gear finds it's real world value.

I find a 10 month wait is absolutely nothing in the ebb and flow of life. When you have owned/own and had practical gig/studio experience with the best of the best silver bullets, the most iconic magic boxes, the rarest, the most hyped, the most current and oldest technologies over the years, then there is little in the way of charms.

 

[Rocket Queen]

They’re great preamps. But the “fresh stock” of bass players willing and able to dish out that excessive amount-over-cost is finite and certainly a year out the demand will be shifted to another flavor.

FWIW I’m a bit of a pedal fiend (bass and guitar) and if I buy a pedal and don’t love it I list it on Reverb for $1-150 over list. More if it’s somewhat in demand. I’ve done it in repeats too, having bought and sold several Protein pedals to pay for the one I kept for example and a couple KoT closer to 5X.
So I am NOT taking you out of it.
But I’m telling you by the time you get a Noble that you order Today it will not be worth $2,000.
What you’re proposing is getting in on the caboose of a trend. And given the already finite market for bass preamps it’s a very, very brief opportunity.
If you want to do this, find the “next” Noble.

Good luck.

Thanks for your insight, and I repeat that this is only a thought experiment that I have no intention of acting on. But I simply observe that a keyword search through the TB archives on "Noble" indicates that the wait time, as well as the price, for a Noble DI build continues to grow. So perhaps a speculator would still be in the dining car instead of the caboose.

 

[Rocket Queen]

Just code a bot that buys up sections of Taylor Swift tickets like a normal scumbag.

Doubly appropriate, since Amos Heller (Taylor Swift's bassist) is apparently a Noble endorser (per the Noble website).

 

[fhm555]

A few lessons from another hobby sector.
1. The public is most fickle and what is hot ATM, may not even be part of any conversation a few months from now.
2. Beware some opportunist who takes something to a country that does not recognize any of the legal protections enjoyed by makers in America, and commissions a clone that they retail for a tenth of what the original sells for. They may eventually get shut down, but by that time there could be so many clones in circulation demand for the original will be too small to support any effort to produce them.
3. some very clever young engineering student figures out a way to circumvent any patent protection and produce the same product, or close enough that their much lower price will kill demand for the original.

I’ve seen those three scenarios play out multiple times in the radio control model hobby/profession.

 

[kesslari]

...a GAS that almost never changes.

and THAT is EXTREMELY funny. Well played sir!

 

[Discount Bassy]

Parasites sipping,
Adding nothing to value.
Poisoning the well.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

You don't want to tie up capital that long to make a non-guaranteed profit that is relatively that low.

 

[Obese Chess]

I would imagine since they are hand built, that Mr. Noble would catch on rather quickly.... but what do I know?

I am under the impression that there is at least one well-regarded pedal builder here on TB who specifically does do this - ie, if he catches you flipping his stuff as soon as you get it, he won't sell you any more pedals.

I think it's an honorable business approach. A local liquor store does something similar - the money is good either way, but they want their products to go to people who will actually use and enjoy what they're selling rather than scalpers and speculators.

 

[singlemalt]

This was actually pretty cool and I made it to the end of the video.
FWIW, I liked #1, most were just fine in my opinion. The level of cork sniffing was bordering on Spinal Tap worthy.

My real world experience chasing preamps? Yep, I wasted some time and money. At one point I had the legendary Alembic F2B.
I sold it when I realized I liked the MXR M80 just as much, if not more. (And the dirt 1/2 of the M80 is a joke)

And I think the MXR would have held its own thrown in with the five in the video. As would plenty of other pre/di boxes in the $150-200 range.

Go ahead and buy one and try the flip. Worst case, you end up with a really nice DI that commands the respect of that one very knowledgeable bass player at your $75 bar gig. You might have found a friend!

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

and THAT is EXTREMELY funny. Well played sir!

I have my moments - periodically.

 

[Jefenator]

If I could travel back in time I'd buy 100 Akai Deep Impact pedals from Musician's Friend instead of just one.
Actually, I wouldn't. I'd buy Google stock and bitcoin - and maybe one Noble when it first came out.

 

[Passinwind]

Go ahead and buy one and try the flip. Worst case, you end up with a really nice DI that commands the respect of that one very knowledgeable bass player at your $75 bar gig. You might have found a friend!

I'm flipping $75 bar gigs these days for a buck fiddy, want in?

 

[db59]

I am Nostradamus!

 

[Grinderman]

Are Noble DIs to GASsy bass players more akin to Gamestop stocks in 2020, Dogecoin crypto, NFTs in '22 , or 17th Century Tulip-mania?

 

[Marko 1]

I can't imagine spending even close to that kind of money on something that provides such a negligible difference.

God I'm so glad I'm not a tone chaser.

 

[BaltBass5]

I have always wondered about the Noble being the "Holy Grail" but due to the cost and the lead time I never had the opportunity or the inclination to order one. Recently when the Noble model was added to the Helix platform I was stoked. Granted it is not a Noble but it IS extremely close....I immediately jumped on the update and after fiddling around in my home studio I quickly determined that I liked the Helix Mandarin (Orange 200) model that was in the same update MUCH better than the Regal DI (Noble).

I know, it's a little bit off the beaten path but it's in the same woods.

 

[InhumanResource]

This was actually pretty cool and I made it to the end of the video.
FWIW, I liked #1, most were just fine in my opinion. The level of cork sniffing was bordering on Spinal Tap worthy.

My real world experience chasing preamps? Yep, I wasted some time and money. At one point I had the legendary Alembic F2B.
I sold it when I realized I liked the MXR M80 just as much, if not more. (And the dirt 1/2 of the M80 is a joke)

And I think the MXR would have held its own thrown in with the five in the video. As would plenty of other pre/di boxes in the $150-200 range.

Go ahead and buy one and try the flip. Worst case, you end up with a really nice DI that commands the respect of that one very knowledgeable bass player at your $75 bar gig. You might have found a friend!

I actually liked the Pyle and the Radial best during the blind test! Observations:

1. Would have been more objective if he used a recorded loop as the source audio.

2. The fact that he arrived at liking the most expensive one the most and the cheapest one the least aroused my suspicion.

3. I use a $30 dollar Behringer DI on the job. A friend just asked me if I have a DI box he could borrow, I tossed him my scruffy old Behringer DI and ordered another one. So I’m not surprised that I like the cheap one best.

DI boxes in my world just get me from my bass to the board. If I want to impact tone, I’m looking at my bass, my strings, and myself. Probably in reverse order. I did hear differences between these products but I definitely did not hear hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of difference.

 

[Maxi Funkl]

I have to wonder if the hype surrounding the Noble (which I think IS a great sounding box) is mostly a TB phenomenon or if it also exists in the outside world. In any event, it’s interesting to behold the sort of peer-generated “I gotta have it” affliction that involves certain products on TB. I guess it’s normal to some extent: many of us are on a seemingly endless quest to improve our sounds and there’s also the hobby aspect of gear for many of us. And if you have the money then I guess why not. But man, $2500 for a Noble (the last price I saw for one in the TB classifieds)? Yikes!

I have a Friend/Mentor a musician, producer, song writer, who has Reddi, Noble, Neve 5017, Khan, & Caveman BP1 among others in all 3 of his studios for artist to use as options other than the rack stuff he has in house. So I'd say the hype isn't just a TB thing.