Nobelium - tube bass preamp project

[mdc]

@Mentaltossflycoon I use one of these to power two voodoolabs:

 

[RetiredUnit1]

This is a grotesque query... and speaking of related costs to building these tube circuits, what are people doing when running multiple pedalboard power supplies? This is going to force me to buy a lil cioks, I can feel it in my bones. Do you run two power cords or is there something better than a baby surge protector underneath?

I run a gigrig supply, which has served my pedal gluttony well but let's say I suddenly want to add 3 tube pedals. That's over 300 dollars in gigrig "mr universe" adapters. Seems a better investment to get a 4 outlet cioks at a much lower cost and have a spare high draw line for the next Nathan/Jeff collab that I won't be able to live without. (Cough cough, ehx tube comp, cough)

You can always diy a battery powered supply like I did. 16 x 18650 batteries in 4s sleds comes out to 8.8ah at 16v, the ah increases when pulled back down to 12 or 9v but the MP1584EN is 90% efficient so some is also lost. I recharge about 3 times a year. Mine has 2 chips so my 16 ports are 2A per side. The chip smokes at 3A. There is no limit per barrel, you could pull the entire 2A out of one barrel if need be.

Tayda has the sleds for a buck each, you can get the chips about 2 bucks each, the 18650 batteries used to be 80 cents each but have gone up to about 2 bucks each....

 

[RetiredUnit1]

This is one I've been working with Jeff (@C2C Electronics ) on for months, and I'm finally ready enough to mention it. I did the general design and let Jeff handle the PCB, and we're both really proud of how this one turned out. It's obviously not based on anything in particular (*wink-wink*), but it's a great sounding studio tube D.I. in a relatively pedalboard-friendly 1590XX.

View attachment 57446

I'm typically all for UV prints on everything, but this one obviously needed a faceplate. For reasons.

View attachment 57447

I'm in the middle of a big website overhaul, and JLC just started a weeklong holiday, so boards aren't ready to be available yet, but this has been verified and will be available sometime in October.

Nobelium huh? HEAVY

 

[Mentaltossflycoon]

You can always diy a battery powered supply like I did. 16 x 18650 batteries in 4s sleds comes out to 8.8ah at 16v, the ah increases when pulled back down to 12 or 9v but the MP1584EN is 90% efficient so some is also lost. I recharge about 3 times a year. Mine has 2 chips so my 16 ports are 2A per side. The chip smokes at 3A. There is no limit per barrel, you could pull the entire 2A out of one barrel if need be.

Tayda has the sleds for a buck each, you can get the chips about 2 bucks each, the 18650 batteries used to be 80 cents each but have gone up to about 2 bucks each....

Extremely tempting.

 

[just.steve]

This is a grotesque query... and speaking of related costs to building these tube circuits, what are people doing when running multiple pedalboard power supplies? This is going to force me to buy a lil cioks, I can feel it in my bones. Do you run two power cords or is there something better than a baby surge protector underneath?

I run a gigrig supply, which has served my pedal gluttony well but let's say I suddenly want to add 3 tube pedals. That's over 300 dollars in gigrig "mr universe" adapters. Seems a better investment to get a 4 outlet cioks at a much lower cost and have a spare high draw line for the next Nathan/Jeff collab that I won't be able to live without. (Cough cough, ehx tube comp, cough)

you could also try a few of the joyo zgp noise suppressor/isolator things if you have spare spots in a distributor.

 

[jimilee]

Daaaaaamn! The list of things I need to buy just keeps growing. My bass would love this.

 

[Joben Magooch]

YESSSSSS I’ve been lowkey meaning to ask/beg for something

Spoiler: Nothing to see here

Noble-esque

for ages now!!

 

[cwsquared]

Nathan, you are tube pedal nobel-ity. So excited for this one.

 

[vigilante398]

Nobelium is still waiting on a build doc and more stock (namely enclosures), but it's been added to the website here:

https://c2celectronics.com/product/nobelium-pcb-set/

I think you can sign up for notifications when it's in stock, but I'm not really sure if it works.

 

[Feral Feline]

I don't think he's ever used one, so could be accurate with the name...

"NoBeller"?




Though… Maybe this graphic:





Or…





Ahh the Nobelium faceplate is sweet, though...

 

[matmonster58]

Im excited for these to drop. I have a few questions

Is the level of the di output fixed (not effected by Vol)?

Will LBA iron fit in place of the Jensen? I'm guessing it will since there are extra transformer holes in the boards

What frequency is the HPF and it's rolloff? The original is 90hz -6db/oct which seems a little high and shallow to use as an always on HPF. I'd rather have something like 50hz -12db/oct to leave always on. I imagine the frequency can be lowered by increasing a cap somewhere but the slope cannot be easily modified

 

[vigilante398]

Is the level of the di output fixed (not effected by Vol)?

DI output is not affected by the volume pot, but I did add an internal trimpot for the DI output level as I think the fixed level is a poor choice.

Will LBA iron fit in place of the Jensen? I'm guessing it will since there are extra transformer holes in the boards

Correct, I designed the D.I. daughter boards to handle either Jensen or LBA transformers.

What frequency is the HPF and it's rolloff? The original is 90hz -6db/oct which seems a little high and shallow to use as an always on HPF. I'd rather have something like 50hz -12db/oct to leave always on. I imagine the frequency can be lowered by increasing a cap somewhere but the slope cannot be easily modified

The rolloff was carried over directly from the original, -6dB per octave below 90Hz. I know it sounds high and shallow for bass use, and just looking at the numbers I had the same thought, but having used it in person and heard the opinions of others who use it frequently, it's a very useful setting.

This can obviously be adjusted to taste, that's the beauty of DIY

 

[peccary]

Every time I see @vigilante398 post in this thread.

 

[vigilante398]

Every time I see @vigilante398 post in this thread.

View attachment 58097

Boards have been ordered, boxes have been ordered, I expect to have these available for sale by the end of the month. In case that helps.

 

[matmonster58]

This can obviously be adjusted to taste, that's the beauty of DIY

I guess ill have to build 2...

 

[Feral Feline]

 

[andare]

I'll buy one at 3 conditions:

1. Must cost at least a grand.
2. The waiting list must be X years.
3. No discernible effect when turned on.

Like the real thing

 

[vigilante398]

I went ahead and opened up ordering for these, enclosures are available as well. I'm going to try to at least get a BOM posted today, full build doc with build instructions will be a little ways out.

 

[vigilante398]

Just posted Nobelium BOM here, I'll get a full build doc when I can. Note that you can use either a Jensen or Lightning Boy transformer, the XLR daughter board has a dual footprint, but you obviously don't need both.

 

[DannDubbleEwe]

Well, this is exciting. Ordered!