No guitar sound or signal, please help

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No guitar sound or signal, please help

Hey, im trying to record my guitar into garageband but i am getting no signal or sound from my guitar. this is what im doing.
Plugging guitar into input via 1/8 stereo adapt. plugging heaphones for monitoring. system pref. sound line. opening garageband , choosing electric guitar, go to garageband preferences. audio/midi, there is no line in selection for input just built in i think, im kinda of confused here. Selecting track info edit and i have no line in option, all built in. this is driving me crazy, i cant figure this out. Probably missing something stupid but any help greatly aprreciated.
thanks

imac, Mac OS X (10.5.7)

Posted on Jul 22, 2009 9:49 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 23, 2009 12:02 AM in response to drixhex

"Built-in" is the line-in. Have you checked whether you get a signal? It might just be too low - most guitars need a pre-amp or an audio interface.

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Answer 2

Jul 23, 2009 11:26 AM in response to drixhex

When Garageband opens, you get that New Project splash screen with Piano, Electric Guitar, Voice and so on. Are you selecting the Electric Guitar button and then trying to monitor the sound from your guitar? I find that if you do this, you can't hear anything in your headphones for some reason. If you add a second track and select the electric guitar option out of the three-button screen with Real Instrument, Voice and Electric Guitar, however, you can hear it in the normal way and you can then alter the amp settings to your taste. Weird, eh? Either that or I'm totally missing something...

Message was edited by: RichardLim

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Answer 3

drixhex Author

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Jul 23, 2009 12:52 PM in response to RichardLim

ill try that, i might need a preamp, but im thinking i should at least get some response without a preamp.

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Answer 4

Jul 23, 2009 1:51 PM in response to drixhex

You can definitely plug your electric guitar straight into your Mac. In your Sound preferences, select Line In for your sound input and strum; do you see the meter level jump? If so your Mac is definitely hearing the guitar. Just make sure you have the same input selected in Garageband and you should be able to monitor and record happily.

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