Connecting Guitar to a Computer

kcirick · #1 May 19th, 2006

Hi, I have an elec guitar that I want to connect to the computer. I use an adaptor that takes from 1/4" to 1/8" to put it into my microphone jack, but it looses a lot of power in the process.

What are the alternatives to doing this?

Is there a soundcard that supports 1/4" guitar jack? Any suggestions?

USGold · #2 May 19th, 2006

Pre amp

fly135 · #3 May 19th, 2006

Check the recording panel of the volume control mixer applet. There should be a button called "advanced" that will allow you to select "mic boost". If it's not checked, then you will see significant improvement after turning boost on. It will boost the input sensitivity by 20dbv.

kcirick · #4 May 19th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by USGold

Pre amp

I got that suggestion before, but I don't know what that is.. can I get it from any music stores? How much are they usually?

Ultimate Garage Band · #5 May 19th, 2006

Use your AUX IN jack, not the mic jack. It'll be a cleaner signal.

A preamp can be any number of things. A used Johnson J-station is an awesome guitar/pc interface. A noted preamp from Tech 21 is the PSA1 Sansamp. Rocktron, Marshall, Carvin, tons of people make a preamp which is basically a guitar amplifier w/o any power or speaker. It takes the signal and allows you to shape it with overdrive, tone, and sometimes fx, however w/o any power or speaker you can only hear it through headphones or hook it up to your pc or a power amp and speaker.

If you have a pedal for your guitar you could use that. Plug your guitar into the pedal and then the pedal into the AUX IN jack. If you use a multi fX pedal like a Digitech or a BOSS ME50 then you get the amp models, fx, etc. That's what a J-station is but in a desk top format. I bet a used J can be found on ebay for $50 or so. That would be better money spent than any pedal you could get for $50 if you're wanting to record on your pc.

fly135 · #6 May 19th, 2006

This will do the trick for $35 + shipping....

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...r?sku=631 239

I agree the line-in (or aux-in) is better, and a mixer will provide a way to mix your backing track or mic. Although you should get the $50 UB802 to add another low level input for a mic. A mixer acts as a preamp.

I was able to get a clean record straight from the guitar to mic-in, but sound card quality does vary. I had to pretty much turn the guitar all the way up and lower the mic record level to keep the noise down.

slejhamer · #7 May 19th, 2006

Um, before spending any more money, do you have an amp for your guitar? If so, does it have a line-out jack or a headphone jack? If so, just run a cable from one of those to your computer soundcard's line-in jack. Very simple and effective.

nagukush · #8 May 20th, 2006

but wont connecting the Electric directly into the Mic-In of the Sound-Card, harm it (the soundcard) ?

slejhamer · #9 May 20th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by nagukush

but wont connecting the Electric directly into the Mic-In of the Sound-Card, harm it (the soundcard) ?

Probably not - the electrical signal from an unamped electric guitar is very low. Only if you amp it first and run the amp's line-out to the mic-in will it hurt, and even then it may not do anything ... but why take the chance?

Generally speaking, unless you've got a high-end soundcard designed for audio recording, the mic input is designed for those cheap PC microphones and nothing else. Use the "line in" or "aux in" as others recommended above.

Also, NEVER EVER plug an amp's "speaker out" into the line-in or mic-in on your computer! Speaker-out should only go to a speaker.

nagukush · #10 May 20th, 2006

Hi Mitch !!!

Thanks for the info, Pal !!! I just had another doubt, I have a Zoom Guitar Effects-Processor (its not a great one), If I disable all the effects in it, can I use this as a Pre-Amp for my Dynamic-Mic, to plug it into the Line-In of the Soundcard ?

Kindest Regards
Kush

slejhamer · #11 May 20th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by nagukush

Hi Mitch !!!

Thanks for the info, Pal !!! I just had another doubt, I have a Zoom Guitar Effects-Processor (its not a great one), If I disable all the effects in it, can I use this as a Pre-Amp for my Dynamic-Mic, to plug it into the Line-In of the Soundcard ?

Kindest Regards
Kush

Yes, it should work just fine. Might sound terrible, but you'll get signal to the computer.

Rockerbob · #12 May 20th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by nagukush

Hi Mitch !!!

Thanks for the info, Pal !!! I just had another doubt, I have a Zoom Guitar Effects-Processor (its not a great one), If I disable all the effects in it, can I use this as a Pre-Amp for my Dynamic-Mic, to plug it into the Line-In of the Soundcard ?

Kindest Regards
Kush

That would probably work fine, and nothing that would cause damage even if it didn't sound great. It might sound better than direct into the soundcard.

nagukush · #13 May 20th, 2006

Thanks for caring Friends, I think I'll give it a Try

scotty_b · #14 May 27th, 2006

I don't know if this has been mentioned or not, but there is a USB device now that connects the guitar to computer via USB.

cayenne · #15 July 13th, 2006

I've done it before, running my guitar, into my Line6 PodXT, and from the pod, to the mac via usb. There's lots of software on the Mac/MS side to capture the signal....I used Audacity on my mac.

All my PC's are running Linux...and I'm currently trying to find good ways to get the guitar signal in on that...I believe I've found some drivers for using the Pod with Linux over usb...just gotta find time to experiment with it.

But, by using a Pod or some type of breakout box, I think M-Audio makes a bunch of firewire ones)...you can generally connect to your computer via firewire or USB. I think firewire had much less latency....

HTH,

cayenne