Cable Causing Noise??

[bassist_lewis]

Hey there Bass nerds. On the rare occasion when plug into my amp at home, I've noticed a rustling sound going along with what I play, so not a ground loop, just a kind of white noise that sits under/behind my playing. I went through my gear - swapped basses, pedals etc - and isolated one of my cables. Now, it was a reasonably priced cable so I'm surprised that it was that one and not the cheap braided Fender one I got 5 years ago. Even the skinny one I found free in a guitar box was fine! Does anyone have an insight as to what exactly causes a cable to add noise to your signal?

thanks

L

[mybass]

Maybe that particular cables doesn't have decent wire in it so bin it. I make up cables from quality stuff and always use Neutrik jack plugs for a proper contact area for bass or pedal inputs as some jack plugs from 'other' countries are inferior quality and just ever so slightly less in circumference than Neutrik. 

[rmorris]

Sounds like that cable may not be proper "High Impedance Instrument Cable". It should have a semiconducting layer between the core and the screen to attenuate noise due to cable movement.

[stingrayPete1977]

Good point, it might be a decent quality speaker lead. 

Can you unscrew the end or find any writing on it? 

[Stub Mandrel]

The easy test is, with it plugged in, flicking a loop of cable against the back of your hand. If you get a pronounced click out of the amp it's probably not a low-noise cable.