Electric Guitar Input

I know there is a huge topic about recording electric guitars already, but my question is way more basic. Basically I have a guitar and an adapter to make it go into the computer... It's not recognizing this. Is there some way I can make it see my guitar without having to go out and purchase some other piece of equipment? I have amps and pedals and stuff like that... thanks.
alex

Yes it can! It's a little something we like to call "Impedance mismatch". Apple has always recommended that the proper instrument interface be used for this purpose. Check their site. A cheap iMic from Griffin should work fine in a crunch. If enough mismatch occurs between the guitar and the input jack, the chip could even be fried. The whole reason why it's not "loud enough" is because of the impedance mismatch! This will vary depending on which guitar pickups and pots are used. If someone with a iMac is using their audio input as a guitar input it simply means that the mismatch isn't as great, or that they used an effects pedal in-between the guitar and the computer and didn't mention it. Either way Apple did NOT intend for the audio input to be used as an guitar input. You won't find that in any Apple manual. If any damage to the computer does happen in this way, the tech will easily see the burnt chip on the CB, and the warranty would at that point be void on the whole computer. There's a good reason why it's called a audio input and not a guitar input. Even under the best of circumstances the signal to noise ratio would still (at best) only be around 65dB. This is why so many people who try to do this complain about noise when they record the track. I'm sure Apple would love to tell people to directly plug their guitars into their Macs, but they know full well that would be opening up a whole can of worms.

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How can I input my electric guitar into the garage Band programm?
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I try thru my Boss BR1200CD and with the RCA outside soundinto the Imic, but no sound...
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I got my Macbook Air (Mid 2013 model) last month and I want to record my acoustic-electric guitar on Garageband (which came with the Air).
I don't want to buy a guitar that has a USB. I have a cable with a 3.5 mm headphone jack on both ends like the one pictured here on this website http://www.bestdealaz.com/item.php?id=628 (i didn't buy it from this site though).
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As for plugging the cable straight in the back of the Mac into the Analog In port, that would only allow a single stereo input or two mono ones, and that could be limiting. I agree though that it would allow for something to be done pretty immediately.
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When I get one of these interfaces, where in the daisy chain should it be placed?
Guitar - Amp - Interface - Mac
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OR
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If it is placed in the chain, should the amp effects be restricted to "Clean" leaving the interface or the software to do the effects, or can you change settings in as many places as wanted? I am guessing this is only a question when connecting to the Mac?
Sorry to ask so many questions, as you can see, I am getting hold of bits of ideas here and there, but there are still big gaps in my understanding. You've all brought me forwards a lot since this morning, I owe you all a great big thank you!
To sum up (please correct me where I am wrong or incomplete) what I am looking for then is an Analog to Digital converter with a Firewire (or USB perhaps) connection to the computer. These come in different flavours, often with "free" software, and can add effects in the computer just like some amps can. They all cost something like £100 to £200 upwards (same price as the amp really) and are in effect "amps for the computer" - or is that totally wrong?
As I said, I value your input and corrections.
TIA

Background noise with electric guitar

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I am quite sure i have set all the necessary settings correctly in the sound part of system preferences but i still seem to be getting background noise when i play. If i turn on the noise gate it takes away the background noise on dead time but if i play anything clean and turn it up i'm getting a buzz or something in the background.
How do i get rid of this, do i need a better interface,or a studio to actually record in or what. should i use an expensive mic instead and put it next to my amp? im just lost. i want the best sound and dont know how to get it....please help

There is confusion here the interface says m-audio fast track on it. I got it from a friend that is all I have used besides garageband and my guitar. My cable is a monster and should be fine in my opinion.
I started garageband and opend an electric guitar track. with the clean combo.
My input was set to mono input 2 , input one gives me no sound and more background noise.
After that I still got background noise, its like a fuzz, i read alot of ppl talking about a ticking sound but its definetly not that. its just staticy
ill try the headphones though...any other tips?
Message was edited by: stevewwf1

Electric Guitar Feedback

Ok... i dont know what is going on...
I have a Stratocaster Standard going into an Apogee Duet...
I normally try to keep the input levels mid level with an acoustic but for some reason when I try to record an electric guitar into Logic's Guitar Simulation Plug-Ins I get feedback on high distortion settings... How the heck am I getting computer simulated feedback with no real amp to point my guitar at?
I've done a little tweaking to some of the high distortion tone settings and whenever I lower the amps master volume feedback goes away or if i lower the microphone simulation on the amp the feedback goes away. But since these are logic's presets... aren't they pre-made settings to use with an electric guitar?? Yet I'm getting horrible feedback with these "presets"
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hey.
im using the exact same setup as you also but running the output to a fender blues deluxe 410.
i have the same issues when using the higher gain amps. i think the thing is that feedback may be unavoidable, but i am going to look into it a bit more.
also, eventhough we are using a virtual amp, if the output is to a speaker with high power, the emf from the speaker will find its way back into your pickups so it is really the same as a real guitar setup.

Cheap i/o device for electric guitar?

hi. i've recorded on an analog four track for years but now want to make the switch to digital recording with my mac. what is a cheap but decent external i/o device i could use to record my electric guitar on my mac without an amp? thanks in advance.

There are lots to choose from, but this might fit your needs, and is inexpensive:
http://www.presonus.com/inspire1394.html
It's also somewhat expandable (you can hook up more than one) and it gives you mic preamps as well as Hi-Z inputs.
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Recommendations for Electric Guitar to USB interface?

I'm interested in purchasing a guitar-to-USB interface for my MacBook Pro. This Spring '11 model does not have an audio input jack, so a 1/4" to 1/8" converter is not an option. Can anyone recommend a relatively inexpensive interface that works well with the amps offered in GarageBand (v.6.0.4)? Thanks!

isteveus wrote:
Csound1 wrote:
isteveus wrote:
All Macbook Pros have audio input. It probably shares the same jack as the headphone.
Both the gain and the impedance are wrong for an electric guitar pickup, not a good idea.
Why not a good idea. It's cheep, it works and thousands of people do this every day.
Of course a audio interface is the way to go but if you just want to mess around with with garageband or do the guitar lessons there is no problem using the audio input.
Some single coil pickups may not have enough gain to get a good signal.
Read up on Ohms law

Electric Guitar Input

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