# Connecting Guitar AMP to computer



## ChristTheGreat (May 24, 2012)

Hi!

I have a Peavy Bandit 112 Guitar Amp, and I can't play loud in my appartment xD, I wanna still play while having music playing. so I was thinking plugging the amp in the computer, so I can get the right sound, clean and distortion, then plug my headphone and listen to music while playing.

Good stuff, low price, what should I do?

Will I need a good sound card, like an x-fi, Asus Xonar?  Been a long time I have not touch things related to music, so I'm at the newby state 

Thanks for any help!


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## cadaveca (May 24, 2012)

ChristTheGreat said:


> Hi!
> 
> I have a Peavy Bandit 112 Guitar Amp, and I can't play loud in my appartment xD, I wanna still play while having music playing. so I was thinking plugging the amp in the computer, so I can get the right sound, clean and distortion, then plug my headphone and listen to music while playing.
> 
> ...





THere are several devices, such as a "POD Studio", but my personal favorite is Guitar Rig's Rig Kontrol.

Rig Kontrol Wiring setup:







The POD Studio is the cheapest, uses USB 2.0, but offers only a little bit of functionality. The combination of Guitar Rig 5 and the Rig Kontrol cost me $499, but was totally worth it.


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## brandonwh64 (May 24, 2012)

cadaveca said:


> THere are several devices, such as a "POD Studio", but my personal favorite is Guitar Rig's Rig Kontrol.



If anyone knows anything about guitars and PC's, that would be Dave here!


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## FreedomEclipse (May 24, 2012)

still rocking an old Korg AX3000G and my setup is similar to the pic by dave when Im hooking it up,

Would recommend investing in something similar as you can always plug in some heaphones and jam without the amp while the effects unit can emulate a lot of different types of amps ranging from basic combo's to stereo cab.

though not all effects units come with an AUX socket to plug an mp3 player in and stuff like my Korg AX3000G.

Strangely enough I took my AX3000G out for a bedroom jam yestday out of nostalgia. used to use it when i played live and for some studio recording for the band i was previously involved with but that was many moons ago.


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## ChristTheGreat (May 24, 2012)

Thanks  for yoru replies.

I want to put the less money in this, it's just for having fun, maybe record some small guitar riff/lead 

On my Amp, I must have an Output to plug in the USB audio interface?

@FreedommEclipse

Yeah I know, you can emulate, but I do like having my amp + switch (clean, distortion) + my Wah wah (Which I have to find back that damn Adaptor, i'm using battery right now :S )

I'll look tonight what I have on my amp as output, just to make sure I can, instead it will be only wah wah plugged into a USB device.

Thanks again for sharing your informations guys


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## FreedomEclipse (May 24, 2012)

when recording i usually avoided using effects where i could as i love the natural sound of the amp. but not all emulation is bad. the emulation on the POD Line 6's and some of the mid to high end BOSS multi-effects units are really something to think about.

Line 6 have been making huge waves in the emulation area for a long time with their POD series and a lot of guitarists who upload cover songs to youtube use a POD and it sounds amazing.

If i still played a lot of guitar, Id get me one too. even then im still thinking about switching over and playing bass


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## Widjaja (May 24, 2012)

Despite disliking digital emulation, in your case due to potentially bitching neighbors, I would recommend going with  Guitar Rig 4 and the Kontrol interface by Native Instruments as mentioned by dave.

Although you can use Guitar Rig without the Kontrol interface but you will not be able to use all of the tools it offers.
Since you are a wah man like myself I can tell you now that if you try using your wah with Guitar Rig, you will be not be able to her the heal/toe difference very well.

I use Guitar Rig as a sketch pad for recording riff which come to me while at the PC.
The reverb is rubbish and the delays are limited despite the different types they have IMO.
the distortions aren't bad though and sound pretty decent if layered and tweaked in a DAW after recording.

As for direct line out from the amp....don't even bother, but try it just to hear how bad it sounds.
there will be all treble and no balls.
It will sound totally different from hearing it through your amp speaker.

There is no really cheap way of recording with good quality unfortunately.

With complete disregard of upsetting people....
You need to start off with a pro audio interface, M-Audio delta PCI, M-Audio Audiophile 2496 PCI,  or M-Audio Fast track USB and a decent mic.
Shure SM57 or Shure SM58 are tried and true mics all rounder mics which I recommend without breaking the budget.

For recording I use an Infrasonic Quartet pro audio sound card which is great (clear sound very low noise and low latency) although the drivers can be rather flaky as in picky with certain systems and an Alesis Multimix4 USB mixer which I route in to my sound card via main outs so I have analogue.
Reason for not using the USB on the USB mixer is the sound on the USB mixer is rubbish.
I use a RODE NT1-A condenser mic for recodring


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## cadaveca (May 24, 2012)

OK, now, I didn't think of this at first, but seriously? Cheap? Half-decent, but by no means perfect?

Maybe learn some new songs too?

http://rocksmith.ubi.com/rocksmith/en-us/home/index.aspx

Get PC version, or buy just the cable itself for like $30.


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## Yo_Wattup (May 24, 2012)

First of all, why cant you just plug headphones into your amp? Does it not have a headphone out?

I mainly use Guitar Rig 5 and Amplitube. I also have a Phonic 302+ firewire interface. Add some decent Sennheisers or something and theres your epic sound.


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## FreedomEclipse (May 24, 2012)

Yo_Wattup said:


> First of all, why cant you just plug headphones into your amp? Does it not have a headphone out?



Its a fully fledged valve amp. most dont have headphone out unless the amp are solidstate or practise amps.

there are some exceptions though VOX amps sometimes use a hybred valve and digital effects system in some of amps.

really nice amps they are too! but im too much a fan a Fender Hotrod Deluxe or Deville amps.


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## ChristTheGreat (May 25, 2012)

Yo_Wattup said:


> First of all, why cant you just plug headphones into your amp? Does it not have a headphone out?
> 
> I mainly use Guitar Rig 5 and Amplitube. I also have a Phonic 302+ firewire interface. Add some decent Sennheisers or something and theres your epic sound.



Cause I want to play while I have my music playing from the computer  this is the main reason


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## Widjaja (May 25, 2012)

cadaveca said:


> OK, now, I didn't think of this at first, but seriously? Cheap? Half-decent, but by no means perfect?
> 
> Maybe learn some new songs too?
> 
> ...



Rocksmith for PC eh?
This sound like fun.

Guitar hero annoyed the heck out of me.
More appropriate to call it Keytar Hero.


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## tommyarmour (Feb 2, 2015)

I have a few questions that I was hoping Dave might be able to answer for me. First off, My primary Computer is a Core i5 27" iMac. I use a program called Amplitube 3. This program is great. I also use the Rocksmith 2014 cable to connect my guitar to Amplitube 3 and GarageBand. Now my question is:

Is there a way to connect a real Guitar Amplifier as the speaker outputs. The way I have it now is. My speakers are Logitech speakers with Subwoofer. They sound great for music, but they are no Celestions for all the great amp sounds, and pedal sounds that come with Amplitube 3 and Garageband. The logitechs don't even cut the cake.

So I'm tryting to find the proper hardware to connect my Line 6 Spider 4 amp to the iMac for speaker output when I use my guitar with Amplitube 3 mostly.  I also have a EVH 5150 III tube head I could use for speaker out on the imac. But I figured the lIne 6 Solid State would be a better option it has 2 10" Celestions. 120w


I just don't like how any of the amp sounds sound through the regular Logitech speakers. Everything sound much better through the Guitar amp. 

Thanks,


Tommy

I'm thinking I may need something like a mIxer.


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## manofthem (Feb 2, 2015)

@tommyarmour necro-thread much? 

Actually I don't mind as this thread is one I've never seen but wouldn't mind reading through


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## tommyarmour (Feb 2, 2015)

manofthem said:


> @tommyarmour necro-thread much?
> 
> Actually I don't mind as this thread is one I've never seen but wouldn't mind reading through




Every once in awhile I find a thread relating to my question or questions and try to revive it especially if I see some of the members have been around with lots of posts/messages.

 Thanks

Note: So currently Im running guitar through UBISOFT cable that adapt's into USB and that is plugged directly into one of the usb port on the back of my imac. Then when I open Amplitube 3 it automatically recognizes my guitar and play out through my Logitech computer speakers. Which isn't terrible. Its just not the sound I want to hear. The amplitube 3 software has hundreds of differrent amp, and pedals, and just the tone that comes from a real guitar amp and speakers is so much different than the logitechs can provide. I get the same sound when I use my headphones. I have higher end $150.00 Audio Technica headphones, but they cannot produce that Celestion speakers sound/tone. I hope I'm clear enough to get a few answers. Thanks again.

I kind of want to connect the amp like in this picture. I cannot tell what kind of adapter is in the picture or what input on the amp its plugging into.


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## manofthem (Feb 2, 2015)

tommyarmour said:


> Every once in awhile I find a thread relating to my question or questions and try to revive it especially if I see some of the members have been around with lots of posts/messages.
> 
> Thanks



No worries bro, it's all good. As I said, this is a topic that I missed and would like to read about. I don't have the time now but I'll read through it tomorrow.

And yes, the guys that have posted here are terrific:
@ChristTheGreat and @brandonwh64 are terrific members of the WCG team and are great
@cadaveca knows pretty much everything
@FreedomEclipse has sexy avatars, along with good posts


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## FreedomEclipse (Feb 2, 2015)

tommyarmour said:


> Every once in awhile I find a thread relating to my question or questions and try to revive it especially if I see some of the members have been around with lots of posts/messages.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> ...



its an IK Multimedia StealthPlug CS theres a headphones socket on there but you can plug it into an amp if you wanted to.

Alternatively, you could go with a behringer *GUITAR LINK UCG102*


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## ChristTheGreat (Feb 2, 2015)

manofthem said:


> No worries bro, it's all good. As I said, this is a topic that I missed and would like to read about. I don't have the time now but I'll read through it tomorrow.
> 
> And yes, the guys that have posted here are terrific:
> @ChristTheGreat and @brandonwh64 are terrific members of the WCG team and are great
> ...



Thanks for the compliment 

@tommyarmour 

The project as been left away for me as I bought a house  , I might one day relook at this, didn't touch my guitar for about a year and half :/


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## tommyarmour (Feb 2, 2015)

FreedomEclipse said:


> its an IK Multimedia StealthPlug CS theres a headphones socket on there but you can plug it into an amp if you wanted to.
> 
> Alternatively, you could go with a behringer *GUITAR LINK UCG102*



Thank you very much for the links and ideas. Would you recommend one or the other? Have you tried both, or one of them?  

I did pick up one of these cheapo du da's. I bought it Amazon for less than $10.00  Straight from China really cheap. The headphone out is 3.55mm and what input on the amp should I plug it into? I will gladly spend another $100.00 on another better plug.


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## tommyarmour (Feb 2, 2015)

ChristTheGreat said:


> Thanks for the compliment
> 
> @tommyarmour
> 
> The project as been left away for me as I bought a house  , I might one day relook at this, didn't touch my guitar for about a year and half :/


Well pick that guitar back up. There is some amazing software, like Amplitube 3. Download a trial of something and check it out. Makes you want to play. Just to test out the 100+ amplifiers, and pedals.


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## ChristTheGreat (Feb 2, 2015)

I haveto, for my wedding, I plan to Play hotel alifornia with the Musician that will be the DJ (she will sing and play guitar aswell) haha xD

but I have to repair my guitar a bit (electrical issue for pickup switch), I need to change the frets, so maybe I'll just buy a new guitar haha!


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## tommyarmour (Feb 2, 2015)

ChristTheGreat said:


> I haveto, for my wedding, I plan to Play hotel alifornia with the Musician that will be the DJ (she will sing and play guitar aswell) haha xD
> 
> but I have to repair my guitar a bit (electrical issue for pickup switch), I need to change the frets, so maybe I'll just buy a new guitar haha!


Yes new guitar is the only answer.

I just recently got back into playing. I already have 3 new guitars,  3 new amps.  And software: Amplitube 3, guitar pro 6, RockSmith 2014. Etc, etc. Lol. 

Guitars:
2015 Gibson less Paul studio
ESP E-II FRX
Yamaha FG700S
Amps:
EVH 50w 5150 III
EVH 2x12 Cab
Line 6 120w Spider IV (2 10's)
Marshall MG30CFX


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## tommyarmour (Feb 2, 2015)

FreedomEclipse said:


> its an IK Multimedia StealthPlug CS theres a headphones socket on there but you can plug it into an amp if you wanted to.
> 
> Alternatively, you could go with a behringer *GUITAR LINK UCG102*


Would you recommend one over the other?


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## tommyarmour (Feb 2, 2015)

I also wonder if I would be happier going the next level. Maybe getting some medium to higher end mixer instead of these $50. plastic plugs.


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## FreedomEclipse (Feb 2, 2015)

tommyarmour said:


> Would you recommend one over the other?



No idea, never used any of them. Id reather just get a POD unit. You can hook them up to the pc and also use an amp i think


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## tommyarmour (Feb 2, 2015)

FreedomEclipse said:


> No idea, never used any of them. Id reather just get a POD unit. You can hook them up to the pc and also use an amp i think


You would rather get a pod unit? Are you talking about something different than the 2 I have in my Amazon cart?


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## FreedomEclipse (Feb 3, 2015)

Line 6 POD 2.0 - though im not sure if they have been discontinued, They used to be all the rage when i last part of a gigging band, I think Line 6 have slowly phased them out. Shows how long ive been out of the loop 


If you can pick one up second hand its well worth it

::EDIT::

I think this is what happened to the legendary POD series Either one of these would suit your needs. plus Line 6 knows what their doing when it comes to amp modelling.


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## tommyarmour (Feb 3, 2015)

FreedomEclipse said:


> Line 6 POD 2.0 - though im not sure if they have been discontinued, They used to be all the rage when i last part of a gigging band, I think Line 6 have slowly phased them out. Shows how long ive been out of the loop
> 
> 
> If you can pick one up second hand its well worth it
> ...


Something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RN53LQ/?tag=tec06d-20






Look at that!!! *Even has amp out: *


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## FreedomEclipse (Feb 3, 2015)

tommyarmour said:


> Something like this:
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RN53LQ/?tag=tec06d-20
> 
> ...



Nope thats the pocket one. it doesnt have USB to hook up to your PC.


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## tommyarmour (Feb 3, 2015)

FreedomEclipse said:


> Nope thats the pocket one. it doesnt have USB to hook up to your PC.



Yeah finding a used one seems better. LOL spendy BUGGER
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004TGVRB2/?tag=tec06d-20


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## FreedomEclipse (Feb 3, 2015)

If they were cheaper, even id get one to have a play around with.


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## tommyarmour (Feb 3, 2015)

$250.00 ebay

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Line-6-Pod-...145?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20f5cebcd1


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## tommyarmour (Feb 3, 2015)

I tried using the iRig adapter I bought off of amazon. I figure that should get me close to the plastic adapters of the stealthplug, or 
BEHRINGER. I dunno

This is cheesy video of what happened. The feedback is horrible.  I didn't have any issues using the plug and the Logitiech speakers. But when I used the headphones, or the marshall amp in the iRig plug it was not good when using amplitube 3.


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## tommyarmour (Feb 3, 2015)

I ordered the StealthPlug just to find out, maybe the other plug is bunk. Its possible I Should use a different input when plugging into the amp too. I don't know that either.


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## FreedomEclipse (Feb 3, 2015)

tried plugging it into the main input where your guitar is supposed to go?

I think the feedback is just electrical interference....

Also play some pantera or some Randy Rhoads riffage or gtfo. I have an Obsession with the solo riff from 'Floods' by Pantera at the moment. I need to dig my gear out and have a jam. though I think both my guitars need some truss rod adjustments ;p

while its easy to do my own adjustment. Its been so long since ive played id rather just take it down to a guitar tech and have everything just re-setup entirely.


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## tommyarmour (Feb 3, 2015)

FreedomEclipse said:


> tried plugging it into the main input where your guitar is supposed to go?
> 
> I think the feedback is just electrical interference....
> 
> ...



Now the problem with going headphone out of the iRig to Input in on the Amp, is you have to adjust both amps completely. I'm no longer just using the speaker in the amp. Now I'm running two amps at the same time. It doesnt sound good that way at all. Any slight adjustment sounds horrible and the feedback is way worse.  

When plugging into the ipod input it just plays through the speaker in the amp while having all the amp levels set to zero. You do need to turn the Master Volume up a little but that is the only knob that does anything when using the ipod "IN".


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## FreedomEclipse (Feb 3, 2015)

No idea then, This is beyond me - I have very limited experience with hooking things up the way youre doing.


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## tommyarmour (Feb 3, 2015)

FreedomEclipse said:


> No idea then, This is beyond me - I have very limited experience with hooking things up the way youre doing.



I know exactly what your talking about. I can connect any high end stereo system into any car. Root and Mod and Android Cell phone, But I can't seem to use amplitube with a real amp. LOL

Well thanks for the idea's. It doesnt hurt to try. As soon as you mentioned the input. I tried it. I'm not afraid to try the different plugs, I'm just finding out everything sounds like shit from this plug. I even tried a real set of headphones. They too sounded terrible coming from this plug, using amplitube 3.


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## roys101 (Feb 9, 2015)

Hi. Newbie here. Trying to run 2012 Rocksmith on Windows 7 PC. I say trying, b/c the game is stuck at the strumming/tuning/annoying coloured guitar necks scrolling by part. Anyway, the typical PC speakers are too weak/quiet. I have a Radio Shack (china) amp that I'd like to connect to the PC. I tried a patch cable with 1/8 male into PC and 1/4 male (guitar cable input) into amp, but no luck. What am I doing wrong? Thanks. Chris.


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