Category: Guitar Setup

When your dreaming of playing guitar through your computer, what do we need to consider when we put our dream into reality? Actually you can just plug it in your microphone jack or your line-in jack but it will not have the best sound you can get.
Before we go further let us talk about your level of expertise with computers and other electronic equipment. If you are not sure how to adjust the volume settings on your computer soundcard it is a simple process but it should not be too difficult to find a friend who knows how to do it. The same goes for connecting guitars and effects pedals and whatnot to your computer. You are messing with stuff that could have serious safety issues. If you do not know what is going to happen, then do not do it!
The first thing you need is an adapter to convert your guitar plug to fit the computer input. If you use your microphone jack the guitar volume will need to be turned down somewhat and the quality of the sound will be less than perfect. The fix for this is to plug your guitar into a preamp and then plug the preamp into the computer line in jack.
You can plug your guitar into the line-in jack on the computer but the problem with that is your volume will be too low. You can fix this problem by double clicking on the little speaker on the computer task bar and fooling with the volume settings on your soundcard.
For recording your playing you will need a mixer. You can obtain mixers with effects plugins for free or very cheaply. Here is a great inexpensive recording program with a free trial period.
The Guitar For Beginners forum has all the tutorials you will need to get started on recording your music through your computer:
Computer Recording
Microphones
Connecting Guitar Gear To A Soundcard
How To Use the Standard Soundcard Mixer
Computer Recording Software
Computer Recording: Improving Sound Quality
Free VST Effects Plugins and Recording Programs
Mixing Tips
Removing Background Noise And Hiss
Guitar Multi-Effects Processors and VST Plugins
Reaper Tutorial
Kristal Audio Tutorial

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Bookmark or print this page because it is essential info for beginner guitarists. Here’s an excerpt:
“The techniques I have described
are only one way of doing things; there is no one right method,
though some methods are quicker and easier than others. What is
more important than rigidly adhering to a set of techniques is to
understand the theory behind the techniques. Understanding the
theory provides you with a basis for separating the facts in guitar
set-up from the abundant mythology. Once you understand what you
are trying to accomplish (the theory) you can adopt, or adapt,
specific techniques for accomplishing each task.
While the following discussion strictly applies to steel string
acoustic guitars, the basic theory is the same for classical and
electric guitars, as well as a wide variety of other fretted string
instruments.” Basic Guitar setup

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