Distortion only from Ampegs

[loulou]

Ok riddle me this.

Over the past month I have been getting low level distortion coming out of my amp. You couldn't really hear it when I played notes hard, but when I played softly or after I played a note, I could hear a this low level distortion, almost like I have a high gain pedal on. This happened every time I used my amp, with all my basses and with different cabs so I assumed there was an issue with my head (svt vr). This week I picked up an svt micro vr for at home and recording. I plugged it in and I had the exact same issue. To cut an already long story short, I realised one of my cables was faulty. I never knew a cable could produce an issues like this, I just thought it would work, or not work. To makes matters even stranger, recently at shows and in rehearsals I have used a few different amps and I am pretty sure this problem didn't exist with those other amps.

So my questions are.

What was happening in the cable for this to happen? The cable in question was one of those neutrik silent jacks, if that makes a difference.

Why was it only happening with ampeg amps? Was it because I always have the ultra-hi engaged, something to do with the preamps and the cable fault combined?

Thanks for reading if you have made it this far.

 

[beans-on-toast]

Cables can go bad if you twist them, walk on them, roll them up incorrectly. This can open the outer shield, which is often braided, and change the performance of the cable.

If you slam the cable on a hard floor and you hear a loud noise, the cable is microphonic. Look on youtube for examples.

The no-noise end connector shouldn’t matter.

Turning up the high frequencies or using the ultra-hi switch can contribute to the noise. This will make cable issues more audible.

 

[loulou]

Cables can go bad if you twist them, walk on them, roll them up incorrectly. This can open the outer shield, which is often braided, and change the performance of the cable.

If you slam the cable on a hard floor and you hear a loud noise, the cable is microphonic. Look on youtube for examples.

The no-noise end connector shouldn’t matter.

Turning up the high frequencies or using the ultra-hi switch can contribute to the noise. This will make cable issues more audible.

Amazing. Cheers mate.

 

[beans-on-toast]

There are better ways to roll a cable, I use the over-under technique. This helps minimize stress in the cable. It helps make them last longer. Also, never walk on a cable.

How to wind cable is demonstrated below.

I even do my garden hose like this, it’s great once you figure out how to do it.