Connecting a guitar directly into the pc

[Energumeno1]

Hello everyone, I am looking forward to buying an electric guitar to start learning, but I don't want to buy an amplifier if I can connect it to the pc.

My soundcard is an Asus Essence STX and I would like to connect the guitar directly into the Line-In, the thing is, will there be any sound problems if I do it this way?

I don't really mind connecting it to the CPU but do I need any other piece of hardware apart from ,obviously, the guitar and the jack cable?

 

[mjslakeridge]

The guitar cable will have a 1/4 inch plug. Your sound card is likely to have a 3.5mm jack. You could get an adapter. Another thing to consider is the line level signal coming from an electric guitar is a very low level signal. Whether your computer can boost it sufficiently is a question that can only be answered by trying it.

Some electric guitars have a signal booster built into them, powered by a 9volt battery (called active), but most beginner level guitars are passive.

 

[Energumeno1]

The guitar cable will have a 1/4 inch plug. Your sound card is likely to have a 3.5mm jack. You could get an adapter. Another thing to consider is the line level signal coming from an electric guitar is a very low level signal. Whether your computer can boost it sufficiently is a question that can only be answered by trying it.

Some electric guitars have a signal booster built into them, powered by a 9volt battery (called active), but most beginner level guitars are passive.

Actually, my sound card has a 6.3 mm jack for the line in. OK, I'll try to connect it directly both to the sound card and the CPU. Either way, is there a chance of breaking any piece of hardware because of that signal? If it doesn't work or the sound is bad, can I buy a special piece of hardware to avoid this? Thank you.

 

[mjslakeridge]

No, you will not harm any hardware in your computer by connecting a guitar to the sound card. As I said before, the signal coming from an electric guitar is a very low (weak) signal. You may want to look into guitar amplifier simulator software for pc's. In my case, I use Sansamp and Amplitude with Pro Tools audio recording software. However, I am not plugging my electric guitars directly into the computer's sound card, rather I am using an audio interface (Digidesign 002 Rack), which connects to the computer via firewire cable. The guitar amp simulator software can simulate many vintage guitar amplifiers such as Marshal 1959, Fender Twin Reverb, Vox, etc.