Everytime I plug my guitar (Fender Squire) into my amp, (Line 6 Spider IV 15) I get this gawd awful hum whenever I touch the strings, how do I fix this? Do I need to do any soldering? If so, what wires do I need to solder? Is it the wires attached to the jack, or do I need to access it from the back? I'm a bit of a newb when it comes to stuff like this and alot of what I've been researching goes over my head. All I want is to get a clean sound whenever I use distortion from my amp. Please help and explain it to me like a child, because I'm a bit slow when it comes to stuff like this. Thanks.
Your Fender Squier (note the proper spelling) probably has single-coil pickups. They hum. That 60Hz (50Hz outside the US) sound is the result of the way pickups are made. It's also the reason "humbucking" pickups were invented.
You probably aren't going to eliminate the sound entirely. First, check your environment. If you have lots of fluorescent lighting, the ballast resistors in them can add to the noise. You may also have one of more poles of the pickup too close to the string.
After checking your environment and eliminating any other suspect (check your cables, electrical outlets, and other possible sources of electrical interference), a trip to the guitar shop for a setup may be called for.
Duke Ellington said it best: "If it sounds good, it IS good!"
