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.
