Electric Guitar and Amp £54.51 inc postage

thor

Is there yet a consensus on whether the guitar should be connected to a PC via the 'mic' or 'line-in' connection?
I have an Abit IS7 mainboard which has on board sound and it's manual states that the Mic In connects to external microphone and Line-In connects to the line-out from external audio sources. From this I would expect the guitar uses Line-In but some have claimed that they have used Mic-In. I don't want to test which works just in case I blow them and also because I don't have a covertor to allow the guitar cable to plug in to my computer. I want to connect to the PC so that I can use software to tune the guitar as I don't have a clue how I am supposed to tune with that harmonica thing that came with the package.

Rob123

It'll sound complete pants in either input - I doubt you'll hear anything if you use line in & it'll sound very, very bad if you use the mic input (all to do with level & impedance matching). Your best option is to buy a cheap/small preamp & then using the output from that into your line in. Something like this is a good option....

http://www.dv247.com/invt/26906/

....as it'll (supposedly) also model 3 classic guitar amps, but even if it doesn't do this well... it'll act as a normal preamp (with tone control) too.

Rob123

in the meantime, to use that "harmonica thing (pitch pipe)...the concept is simple - there are six notes on pitch pipe. Blow into each one until you hear the lowest note (it'll be marked E)...Ok, now twang your thickest guitar string while turning the tuner at the very end of your guitar for the same string (slacken it off a bit first!)....as you turn the tuner it & twang the string it should eventually rise in pitch until it matches the sound of the thinh you're blowing on (pitch pipe). Careful you don't go past or you'll end up with a snapped string.

Ok, once done, move round to the next pitch pipe note "A" and start the same process on the next string along, etc, etc. No contine on as follows...

Pitch pipe marked D = 3rd thickest string
Pitch pipe marked G = 3rd *thinnest* string
Pitch pipe marked B = 2nd thinnest string
Pitch pipe marked E = thinnest string.

Ok, now you're in tune...it's mandatory to play the opening riff for Deep Purple's "Smoke on the water".

JDPower

dm575 wrote:

Think mine may be faulty as it still wont play "Comfortably Numb" correctly.............

Mine is due to arrive tomorrow and I've got a funny feeling it'll have the same fault

£$&*"($£&(

thor wrote:

Is there yet a consensus on whether the guitar should be connected to a PC via the 'mic' or 'line-in' connection?

I agree with the above statement that the answer is neither. Both will sound but as I said before with the mic in you have to keep the level low or distortion will set in. But even then it will sound terrible.

The box posted by Rob123 above would give a more appropriate signal for a mic input but you'll have trouble finding a lead and it will still sound terrible because the PC mic input is always poor.

Something with gives a line out signal like a cheap Zoom 505II effects pedal which is still available, though it's been replaced, and costs about £29. Or a usb interface like this:

http://www.dv247.com/invt/30798/

Jamie85

If you are are trying to route through your sound card just for effects and tuning.....then I reccomend buying the Zoom 505II pedal if it's only around £29 as stated above, it is really easy to use to tune your guitar, has all the effcts a beginner will ever need, and you can make your own effects with it too. You need the unit, a 9V power adapter (look at the back of your cupboard, everyone has one ) and an additional guitar lead.

thor

Thanks for all the suggestions but it sounds like I might have to trust my suspect hearing and tune the guitar manually as I don't want to spend any more on additional equipment. I only want to dip my toe in the water to see if I can play a guitar. If I am any good then I'll probably splash out big time and play to death the riffs from Hotel California and U2's With or Without You.

JDPower

Mine arrived today (WOOHOO!!!) and I'm well chuffed with it, learnt 5 chords already and not been able to leave it alone all day . Hopefully that enthusiasm will help me through the sore fingers.

I have a question for those with Qwik Tuners though - Do you need a second guitar lead to plug your guitar into the tuner (and attach the tuner to the mic output on the amp)? I thought I could just plug the guitar straight into the tuner but nothing happens when I do that

cheekymole

Got one for OH last week and his finger tips have hardened already!

Just attach the guitar to the tuner (in socket) you'll need a 2nd lead if you want to tune through the amp

or

use mic on tuner and plug guitar direct to amp

HTH

JDPower

JDPower wrote:

I have a question for those with Qwik Tuners though - Do you need a second guitar lead to plug your guitar into the tuner (and attach the tuner to the mic output on the amp)? I thought I could just plug the guitar straight into the tuner but nothing happens when I do that

Seems I may have an intermittently faulty tuner as I just tried it again and it worked fine.

A question for the more knowledgeable guitarists on here - what are the six screws for at the whammy bar end of the strings?

Also is changing the strings just a case of threading them through the back and up to the pegs (and tightening/tuning) as I've never changed strings on an electric before?