How to connect your guitar to your PC Guitarmaster Connecting Lead - Instructions on how to build one.

These instructions tell you how to construct a lead to connect your electric guitar to your PC's sound card to enable you to use the Guitarmaster software by RoboSens Ltd. They should only be followed by people with experience of using a soldering iron, or under the supervision of a similar person.

While you should experience 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 care when using guitars with active circuitry! We accept no liability for any personal injury caused by following or attempting to follow these instructions.

Components List

You will need:
1) One Quarter-inch mono jack (male, plastic - guitar jack)
2) One 3.5mm stereo jack (male, plastic - sound card jack)
3) 2 metres of thin co-axial (screened) cable, mono.
You will also need a soldering iron, solder, wire strippers and/or a suitable sharp knife.

Procedure

1) Strip about half an inch of the outer sleeving from either end of the coaxial cable, taking care not to cut into the braiding or the inner cable.
2) Strip about one quarter of an inch of the inner sleeving from either end of the coaxial cable, taking care not to cut into the wire inside.
3) Unscrew the outer casing from the quarter-inch mono jack. Solder the outer braiding of one end of the screened cable to the common (large) tag on the jack. Solder the stripped end of the inner core of the same end of the cable to the remaining tag within the jack. Screw the outer casing back into place.
4) Unscrew the outer casing from the 3.5mm stereo jack. Slip the outer casing over the free end of the coaxial cable, so it can be screwed back onto the jack connector assembly after soldering. Solder the outer braiding of the remaining end of the screened cable to the common (large) tag on the jack. Solder the stripped end of the inner core of the cable to the inner small connecting tag on the jack. (NB: Do not connect to both small connecting tags, i.e. don't "tie" the two stereo channels together: only one pole of the stereo jack is used). Screw the outer casing back into place.

Your Guitarmaster lead is now ready to go! You should test it using the Windows Sound Recorder application, to ensure that you are getting a sufficient signal through your sound card, before you use it with Guitarmaster.


Copyright RoboSens Ltd 2002 http://www.guitarmaster.co.uk