Anyone own, played or otherwise have an opinion on Noble guitars.

thanks,

Stuart

Stuart, played a few at the Philly show quite a few years ago....when the Philly show was really something. Greg Boyd from Montana had 3 at his table and I loved all of them but there was a mahog D that was killer and I wanted it real bad but couldn't come up with the dough to snag it. That was the only Nobles I had hands on time with and I was impressed. On the way home my buddies and I ranked our favorite guitars and among new ones the mahog D Noble was first or second on everybodys list.Did you see the one at Cotten?

Stuart,

Eric Uglum, who plays with Lost Highway and Chris Stuart & Backcountry, plays a Roy Noble dreadnought--I think it's cedar/mahogany. Pick up a copy of his Shenandoah Wind CD for some of the best tone, taste, and timing out there today. I heard Eric at Overton Texas last summer playing the Noble onstage--really awesome stuff. Also I believe Ken Orrick of Lost Highway is now playing a Noble.

Cowboy, there's one on the dream guitar site. I could buy one expensive guitar, or two less expensive, and I've got my eyes open. It's a KOA and the overtones don't sound too heavy (a problem I find with KOA). It is solid wood I'm told, as I understand some of the Nobles are not.

I've also been looking at Borges, and Cotton is a dealer. There is a KOA Borges that you can order/buy though few exist - making a used one unlikely. If you go to the Dream Guitar site and look at previously sold inventory, there is a Borges KOA. Amazing looking guitar that sounds very interesting too. Lots of money new. There's one at the Blue guitar store in ...whereever that store is, is it Japan. NOt sure. Anyway, it's about $6500. But too tough to buy without playing. It has some damage on the side of it. They sent me photos of it.

So still pondering between Cotton, Guitar gallery and Dream guitar for a trip. Kim is amazing and is firing me ideas. Goodall's are also interesting, though they really range in price. I'm trying to go used to save the 2K difference on average over new. The Borges guitar on Dream Guitar site also sounds like it's got a ton of headroom, but I'm very leary about sunbursts as the only one I've had exposure too required far more attention - wiping off finger marks etc. I'm not sure if the more expensive ones are like that. That's not me.

Warren, I'll look that CD up and listen to some samplers. Thanks. I've heard he's a players builder. But there are positive and negative reviews on the internet. I know I know, must play one. The time will come.

Stuart

I have a Roy Noble Brazlian/Adi dread. It is a beautiful guitar with fine workmanship and a very comfortable neck. Its sound is closer to a Goodall than a Collings, being more piano like. It has excellent volume and is not muddy. The woods are top notch with killer braz and a very clean adi top. I have been thinking about selling it. It is expensive but could be had for significantly less than Greg Boyd is selling his used ones for. If interested, private message me.

I own a 2002 Noble Braz/Adi dreadnought - it has a solid brazilian back and maple "twinned" to the brazilian sides to balance the tone and allow the use of highly figured wood. The guitar is a real banjo-killer, yet the action allows nuanced, expressive flat picking. His pau ferro, cocobolo and mahogany guitars are impressive, too. Check out www.gregboyd.com

Let's not forget Clarence White played 'em back in the day, that's got to be worth some prestige points. Rarely mentioned though.

Other owners:
Al Ross: 6 & 12 string
Tommy Tedesco: 6 string
Steve Mann: six string
Pete Seeger had two 12 string long scale Nobles
Vince Martin and Fred Neil: 12 string
Michael de Temple: 6 string
Jorma Kaukonen: 6 string
Doc & Merle Watson: 6 & 12 string
Leo Kottke: 12 string (his main guitar for studio use)
Fred Gerlach: 12 string long scale
John Hartford: two 6 Strings
Bobby Kimmel: 6 string concert (the very first one)

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Roy's claim about the replaced top on Clarence's guitar has sparked some interesting discussions. Nobody seems to be sure if Roy is claiming that the top on THE D-28 (Tony's guitar) was replaced by him with Sitka or if it was some other guitar owned by Clarence.

Not played one. Wondering why he hasn't gotten more pub in recent years with such an impressive list of past clients.

Andrew

2 different things:
a) work on Clarence White's old Martin.
There does seem to be some controversy about that, Tony Rice is quoted as saying that , given its condition when he got it, he wouldn't want to be laying claim to whatever had been done to it previously. I'm not sure exactly what if anything Noble himself said he did to it, never saw that unambiguously stated. Like you said, maybe he worked on a different old Martin. No idea.

b) Custom Roy Noble guitar(s) owned and played by Clarence White

There is no controversy about that, this is fact. There are pictures, statements by White's circle about it for all to read.

He is not getting more pub now because he is low profile, sourced only from some shop in remote Idaho or Montana or something, no famous guy is standing up & promoting him.

It's the same with the other guys who quit for a long time, and then got back in much later after their buzz had died off. Bozo Podunavac came out of retirement to build again, and didn't get much buzz at that point, same level as Noble I would say. Nick Kukich has some buzz now, pretty much for one reason- there's some high-profile players, old customers from before, who are still out there, and are again playing his new guitars and providing some buzz. If those guys were dead, and had given their old Martins to Tony Rice, Kukich might be getting less pub now as well. 1/3 of the people listed above are dead. For most people, when your guy is out of it you move on, and then you may develop other allegiances.

There are other individual luthiers who had some buzz in the 60s and 70s, but quit before the "unplugged resurgence" and are consequently largely forgotten now, regardless of the merits of their prior work. That does not necessarily mean their work would not measure up. It's more that there are exremely few examples in current circulation, to be spoken about by potential purchasers.

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Hi,

Greg Boyd here... I am new to this group...

Roy Noble does build some great guitars.
I would have to say he builds some of the finest tone ever... and if you know us, you know that we've been dealing in great tone for quite a while.

These guitars are vastly mis-understood, mainly because there have only been about 500 ever produced, and all of those were by Roy Noble working mostly alone, and never with CnC technology.

Current production is about 24-26 guitars per year.

I invite anyone to call me and I'll give you the straight scoop over the phone.

- Greg Boyd
Roy Noble-phile
"House of Fine Instruments"
311 Knowles St
Missoula, MT 59801
406/327-9925
www.gregboyd.com

"I feel a lot more like I do now, than I did then..." - Greg Boyd

Rice's 28 was not re-topped, at least according to McCabe's, where he had work done on it. the work, as I understand it, was putting a Gretsch fingerboard on to replace the wasted one- thus the binding and the soundhole overhang (better than a hangover!). As far as the whole hole enlargement idea, I've heard pick wear, I've heard cigarette snuffing, just trimming the worn edge to be sorta even. Whatever. But Mr. Boyd does know tone; there's a guitar at his shop I want REAL bad, but not as bad as I want to stay in our house and stay married. tom

[ Whatever. But Mr. Boyd does know tone; there's a guitar at his shop I want REAL bad, but not as bad as I want to stay in our house and stay married. tom[/QUOTE]

Tom ,
Just about every guitar that gets listed in the for sale departement seems to interest you .My mother used to say "some people have more money than sense "you seem to be lacking the money, how about the sense ?