# Connecting Guitar to My iMac



## PCTwoMac (Dec 7, 2008)

What do I need to connect an electric guitar directly to Garageband?



Thanks for any help .....


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## monokitty (Jan 26, 2002)

Some tips:

Apple - Support - Discussions - Best way to connect my electric guitar ....


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## Hypno (Sep 27, 2003)

You can use any existing 1/4" guitar lead with a 1/4" Female to 1/8" Male adapter, which you should be able to get for about $3, this will connect to the audio in on the back of your iMac.


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## fjnmusic (Oct 29, 2006)

All kinds of analog to digital converters/mixers exist for a fairly reasonable price. I use a Tascam US-428 which connects to the USB port, but there are other much simpler ones as well. The US-428 is an older unit. M-Audio also makes a funky little Jamlab unit that works a little like the old Rockmans.

M-AUDIO - JamLab - Personal Guitar System


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## gtgt (Jul 19, 2005)

Hypno said:


> You can use any existing 1/4" guitar lead with a 1/4" Female to 1/8" Male adapter, which you should be able to get for about $3, this will connect to the audio in on the back of your iMac.


I like this option for the simplest way. Not pro studio results, but not bad. I have the firewire mbox and prefer plugging into the mic jack better, there seems to be a smaller latency.


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## PCTwoMac (Dec 7, 2008)

Great responses. Thanks everyone!!!!


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## CanadaRAM (Jul 24, 2005)

The main problems with the 'plug it in with a cable adaptor' approach is that the guitar outputs a signal that is too low for good fidelity on a line level input (this causes you to turn the gain up on the Mac, so the noise is also increased), and that the input impedance of the Mac's input is too low for the guitar's pickups (this causes a thin and tweezy sound). 
Music On My PC - How To Record a Guitar on a PC Computer/Recording Guitar
To a certain extent, you can make up for this with the effects plugins in Garageband or Logic or whatever you are using


The cable adaptor method 
Apple - Pro - Techniques - How to Record an Electric Guitar on Your Mac, p. 1

Alternatives: There are many USB and Firewire audio interfaces, which range from $70 up to many hundreds. There are some that are specially made for guitar (Line6 Toneport series, IK StealthPlug) and many more that are multipupose, able to interface a microphone as well as a guitar, which gives you more flexibility down the road. Using a microphone on your guitar or amplifier generally will give you the best guitar tone.

If you play electric, you also have the option of using an effects pedal / amp simulator box before you record the signal into the Mac. This would overcome the level and impedance problems. A slight downside is that by 'printing' the effects, you can't remove them later like you could with software plug in effects in the Mac.


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