Plugging In
To use the Guitarmaster software application you have to plug the output from your electric guitar into the "mic" or "line-in" socket on your PC's soundcard using an appropriate connecting lead. You essentially have three options here:
1. Buy a ready-made Guitarmaster lead from us
If you're buying the full version of the software, then simply add a connecting lead to your shopping basket when you place your order via our buy on-line page. Need a lead to try out the demo version? No problem! Just click the "Buy Now" button below to order a lead from us using PayPal. It costs USD $4.99 (plus a nominal carriage charge) and we'll ship it by airmail right away.
2. Use a standard cable and adaptor
You can use a standard jack cable to connect your guitar to your PC's sound card. However, a
sound card jack is a stereo jack, whereas a guitar jack is mono. If you plug a
mono jack into your soundcard, or a stereo jack into your guitar, this may not work as
(in our experience) stereo jacks don't connect very well to mono sockets and vice-versa. For this reason we recommend the use of a lead
(like ours) that is designed to be mono-stereo, or that you use a lead with an appropriate mono-stereo adaptor.
Adaptors like this are available from many suppliers (e.g. RadioShack, Maplin), but you may find it
easier to simply buy a lead from us!
3. Construct a lead
If you're good with a soldering iron, all you need is a 3.5mm stereo jack (to go into your soundcard), a 1/4 inch mono jack (to go into your guitar) and about 2 metres of thin co-axial cable. Connect one pole only of the 3.5mm jack to the single pole on the mono jack. Click here for more detailed instructions. If the above means nothing to you (or if it sounds like a lot of hassle!) then see point 1 above!
Note: some newer Windows 7 laptops do not have a microphone ("mic") or line-in socket built in. To use Guitarmaster with PCs of this type, you will need to additionally purchase a mini USB sound card from a third party supplier. These normally cost less than five dollars. We do not endorse any specific product, but one example of a suitable USB adaptor is the Dynamode USB sound card, available from Amazon here.
Disclaimer: while we have tested Guitarmaster on countless PCs and had no problems, RoboSens Ltd regrets that it can accept no liability for consequential loss or damage caused by the use of its software or through connecting the output of an electric guitar to your PC's soundcard. Don't use effects! Take special care when using guitars with active circuitry!
