I have just looked if Thomann lists it.
The UK website says 1-2 weeks now and seems to be the cheapest:
Invalid Link Removed
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Double Bass Noble tube preamp
- Thread starter bassmanbrent
- Start date
The UK website says 1-2 weeks now and seems to be the cheapest:
Invalid Link Removed
They are totally different animals, both great at what they do. I reviewed the Felix here: http://www.chrisfitzgeraldmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Grace-Design-FELiX-review.pdf
And I ended up buying a Noble because I want simplicity at this point. The Felix can do just about anything, but you have to understand how everything works (and works together) to really get the most out of the tools it offers. The Noble is much more Zen, which these days is more my style.
@Ric Vice and @DoubleMIDI Thanks a lot, now I understand. Have to add that I`m hesitating on ordering anything from UK at these times. Such a mess, such a shame.
Sorry for derail
Sorry for derail
Last edited:
I‘m sure that the Thomann UK is just a website made for UK customers. They have personal speaking a lot of different languages at Thomann but as far as I know anything is sent from Germany.
Start with the UK website and check if there is someone talking or writing Finnish. If there is one, they might be more familiar sending stuff to Finland.
Thanks! I`ve been ordering stuff from Thomann.de and it has allways been super smooth from the order to receiving.
One of the "difficulties" using the Grace Designs Felix is the routing buttons on the rear pannel of the preamp. I had an issue with it today, as I was setting up for practice. The two culprits are the Amp/Source button on the 1/4" inputs and the mic/line button right below it.
They tend to get depressed in coming in and out of the road case and that essentially turns off the amp out back to you amp or powered cabinet it's a real PITA. Regardless, if you are doubling or using a microphone its a goodsend. It's definitely not Zen to configure on the fly, unless
you memorize the rear pannel. My solution was to get the soft case which doesn't to that.
Last edited:
In that case I would it some plastic out of food packages or other waste and tape that to the device so that the buttons could not be pressed by accident. Fold one tape end over to itself to easily pull off the tape if needed.
Could be made nicer (wood or something more serious plastic), but not needed for the task.
Or make it a routine to always check the buttons after moving the device.
Having “lived” with the Grace Felix for several years I’ve learned how to trouble shoot it. The button cover is an excellent idea.
I’ve had similar issues, and now it’s on the way back to Colorado for a very minor issue. I would think that if this gets to be a normal annoyance maybe Grace could produce a cheap retrofit cover to place over the front to protect buttons from being accidentally pushed during setup/tear down. I suppose it could be jury-rigged easily enough but for the price and excellent overall quality, it might be an idea for Eban and Alex to consider.
What’s this thread about? Oh yeah, Noble. 
. I just A/B’d a Gage Lifeline and Noble into a Phil Jones Flightcase effects return jack. And without Noble Into the instrument jack. Both sounded good but with Noble, it was really good. All settings flat. The sense of a piezo was reduced and felt more natural and musical. I came to never play EB without the Noble. It’s immediately obvious to my ears the same will be true with UB.
. I just A/B’d a Gage Lifeline and Noble into a Phil Jones Flightcase effects return jack. And without Noble Into the instrument jack. Both sounded good but with Noble, it was really good. All settings flat. The sense of a piezo was reduced and felt more natural and musical. I came to never play EB without the Noble. It’s immediately obvious to my ears the same will be true with UB.
What’s this thread about? Oh yeah, Noble.
Well,
If you and Chris Fitzgerald are sold on the device, then I highly respect both your opinions. I've been reluctant to buy a tube preamp simply because I own a vingtage B-15N(C). Sorry for the derail.
Just having fun, not to worry! There's so much great gear out there it's almost hard to make a bad decision with any of it. I'm brand new at upright bass so I'm mainly focused on more mundane things like how to hold the bass, find notes on the fingerboard, and bow it without sounding like a screeching animal. I've sold most of the EB stuff I'll never use again. But the Noble has me firmly in its clutches.
Sorry for the tangent...back on point, I love the idea of the Noble for upright as I love the warmth and punch that tubes provide, but for the money it would make a lot more sense if it was wired with a midrange parametric EQ for those times where you want the sound, but also wish to simplify your chain.What’s this thread about? Oh yeah, Noble.
You're right -- sometimes the fine-grain EQ capability is useful. However, and speaking as an EB player who schlepped an Empress ParaEQ around for sometime along with an Fdeck HPF and other tone shaping pedals, the ultra simple form factor of Noble has never left me thinking, "Darn, wish I had that ______ pedal for this situation." Ironically, the people who are mostly oblivious to these angst-filled choices are sitting in the audience.
I played electric for 45 years and have a Mesa Walkabout and an Aguilar DB 751 I’ve used a lot for electric... love the warmth of the tube preamp but when using my EUB or UB I need my Felix to take out that annoying 600-700hz sound that the uprights piezo’s make. My portable Eden WTX has a simple mid EQ which gives add/cut at 700hz and though I love my Felix, I can show up with that simple set-up, dial it in, and sounds great from the start. Simple is a beautiful thing!
Interesting, at times I do a similar thing with the EA Doubler’s notch filter. I didn’t realize that annoying spike was a piezo thing - is that universal? I typically only do it when volumes get loud and I get annoyed...
I’m sure they’re all different, but the piezos I’ve played (Realist and Yamahiko) both have that issue. I’m not new to bass, but in my infancy as a URB player, so take that with a grain of salt...but I do know what sound I’m looking for and pulling out those frequencies make a big difference in my ears.
It definitely is and apparently a Tube Preamp can get rid of some of that as well. I left the Realist and other piezo pickups behind after using the Ehrlund EAP which is by all accounts a piezo but does not have some of the issues
The complexity of the FELiX made me get rid of mine. It’s sounds great once dialed in, but for me, I spent way too much time fiddling with it to get what I wanted every time I used it in a new place. It was way more than I needed in a preamp...love my EDB-2 for the simplicity, maybe a Noble in the future...
Sure, I totally understand and if that’s the case the Headway EDB-2 is a great choice. Unfortunately, I had components in three different EDB-2’s
fail. I just finally convinced myself to buy a new one, as they have updated the units with different parts and now back to the NOBLE thread.
