What could be wrong with my MIM Precision

[Busker]

Really annoying static-y sound when you're not touching (grounding) the strings. When you touch the strings solidly, or volume or tone knob, or end of the guitar cord, it goes away.

When actually playing, it seems worse, because of the brief moments when you are not touching the strings in between notes, then touching the strings again. The static then "turns on and off" all the time. Very annoying. I went so far as to run a temporary jumper wire from the output jack to the bridge saddle (just on the outside of the guitar, so I could see if the bridge wasn't well-grounded). No change. I don't have fluorescent lighting either, if that makes a difference.

Could it be my cord? I checked both ends, and they look OK, good solder joints, nothing seems to be touching where it shouldn't.

[The Mock Turtle Regulator]

you need to shield the control cavity and pickup cavity with aluminum or copper foil or shielding paint, and connect the shielding to ground.

[Busker]

OK, I can do that. Seems to me that Fender did do the shielding paint thing with American Standards, but I don't think the MIM has any shielding at all. Good idea.

But I also may have discovered the solution to the main problem I was experiencing yesterday.

The old part of this house is not modernized with the grounded three-prong plug ins, so I had the amp plugged into a power strip that was plugged into an adapter. But today I moved the amp into the new part of the house that has modern wiring. Probably 95% of the noise went away. In fact, I just downloaded the Peavey manual on this amp an hour ago, and that's what it says. If you don't have it plugged in to the modern-type grounded wall socket, it could be noisy. BTW, the amp is a TNT 115S. I just got it 2 days ago.

Thank you.