First off, I'm new to guitars. I've been playing an acoustic for almost 2 months and I'm loving it.
1. I've been looking into electric guitars recently and have all but decided on an Epiphone Les Paul Standard Electric Guitar.
2. I will need to practice using headphones. Its due to our current living situation.
3. I have a mac and would love to record to it. Garageband?
4. Also I have no where to put an amp and leave it. So I was looking into software amp and effect emulation such as Guitar Rig 2.
Now please, please correct me if I'm way off on this one. It seems guitar rig 2 will allow me to play through the computer via the Rig Kontrol 2. The various amps, effects, eqs looks/sounds stunning to me and would allow me to get various sounds at a reasonable cost ratio. Plus the portability is a huge bonus.
Now the questions.
Anyone here use Macs and Guitar Rig?
What are your thoughts, opinions of guitar rig 2?
What would I need to get started?
Do I need anthing other than the guitar, laptop and guitar rig 2? What cables?
Thanks for your input and remember I'm new at all of this so please forgive my total ignorance.
Psa. 42:8
By day the LORD commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
TonePort is another good choice as is GuitarPort. The Behringer V-Amp 2 is very nice as is the POD XT (same as v-amp but more expensive). They will allow you to use headphones (the v-amp has a built in headphone jack...not sure about the POD?). GuitarPort and TonePort both connect to your computer and use software for amp sims and effects. Very nice.
As for recording on the Mac I am not really sure? I have heard of GarageBand and heard it was good. I use Audacity on the PC but I am not sure if they have a Mac version?
These are supposed to be very good compared with the Epis
http://www.rondomusic.net/electricguitar-ss5.html
I'll have to look into those you suggested. I'd like to compare the features of them all and hear from those who use these products!
Question: How does it work? Guitar > VAmp > Computer > headphones? Does the V-Amp come with a foot controller similar to the Guitar Rig 2?
These are supposed to be very good compared with the Epis
http://www.rondomusic.net/electricguitar-ss5.html
Man, those are sweet! And from what I've since read of them, everyone is digging the quality and sound. Thanks for the info!
Psa. 42:8
By day the LORD commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
I tried a demo of Guitar Rig on my Mac and I thought it was a lot of fun, but as I don't play the electric very much, I just tried it once.
It as a lot more settings and effects and amp simulations than Garage Band, and these settings seem more effective. Anyway it's not the same kind of software, when you plug your guitar into Garage Band you use it more as a kind of sequencer than as a amp simulator (even if there's some amp simulation in it).
If I'm not in the band
Don't mean I'm square
Mercury Rev - Car Wash Air
Oh I forgot, you need some kind of preamplification between your guitar and your laptop. I plugged my guitar into a Peavey 15 W amp, and plugged the amp's line out into the microphone input of the mac. It worked, with some buzz, but not much. I know there are more specific devices,I even read recently something about a special "plug" you can put between your guitar and your mac, but I can't remember where for the moment.
If I'm not in the band
Don't mean I'm square
Mercury Rev - Car Wash Air
Oh I forgot, you need some kind of preamplification between your guitar and your laptop. I plugged my guitar into a Peavey 15 W amp, and plugged the amp's line out into the microphone input of the mac. It worked, with some buzz, but not much. I know there are more specific devices,I even read recently something about a special "plug" you can put between your guitar and your mac, but I can't remember where for the moment.
Is the preamp needed when you have the software only?
What I mean is, if I buy guitar rig 2 it comes with the Rig Kontrol 2. If I understand correctly, I would plug guitar into Rig Kontrol 2, RK2 into computer. The RK2 has a preamp built in?
When it comes to the electric guitar, amps, etc... I have just enough knowledge to be very dangerous. But I'm reading everything I can get my hands on!
Again, I'm not 100% certain I'll get GR2, it just looks to be most like what I'm after. Have you seen their demo with Dweezil Zappa? :D :D
Psa. 42:8
By day the LORD commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
What I mean is, if I buy guitar rig 2 it comes with the Rig Kontrol 2. If I understand correctly, I would plug guitar into Rig Kontrol 2, RK2 into computer. The RK2 has a preamp built in?
I just checked on their web site, and, yes, the Rig Kontrol has a built-in preamp. You can even plug 2 guitars. So you don't need anything else.
I don't want to complicate matters with too many choices, but you could also buy one of those Line 6 pods:
I guess there's a way to plug them into a computer (but maybe only through a midi connector). You can also use them alone with heaphones, or plug them into an amp... These are quite versatile devices.
If I'm not in the band
Don't mean I'm square
Mercury Rev - Car Wash Air
Question: How does it work? Guitar > VAmp > Computer > headphones? Does the V-Amp come with a foot controller similar to the Guitar Rig 2?
If you aren't recording, then Guitar->V-Amp->headphones
If you are recording, then what you wrote will work, or the headphones can stay on the V-Amp and the "line out" of the V-Amp to the line in of your computer.
And, yes, the V-Amp comes with a footswitch
I wrapped a newspaper ’round my head
So I looked like I was deep
