[olug] Linux as a guitar amp

[Daniel Pfile]

I havn't hooked mine up in a long time either. The biggest problem is  
latency. Unless you have a really fast computer you'll be tearing  
your hair out playing through it. However, there are some apps:

http://www.gnuitar.com/ - Guitar effects
http://jack-rack.sourceforge.net/ - Effects
http://ardour.org/ - Recording

My advice? Spend your time learning how to play through your $10 amp.  
It just needs to make the sound come out. Once you decide you really  
like guitar go to a pawn shop and get a line 6 pod or a behringer  
vamp. I'd lean toward line 6 (I have a behringer amp with the vamp  
dsp built in and it's not that good, but it's cheaper). Those two  
products use special processors to simulate all kinds of amps, you  
just plug it into your stereo. Line 6 also makes a thing called the  
guitar port, which is windows only, but has just the dsp in it. You  
control it through usb. It's about 1/3 cheaper than a standalone, but  
you need windows. I still play through my little $10 amp in my living  
room with my big one in the office (but then again, I'm a bad  
guitarist). You just need something to jam on now, you'll get better  
and know your needs down the road.

If you try gnuitar let the list know how it goes please, I could be  
completely wrong and linux guitar processing could have came a long way.

-- Daniel 

On Jun 11, 2005, at 9:24 AM, Theodore Katseres wrote:

> On 6/11/05, A-Wal <A-Wal at cox.net> wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>>
>>     This is going to sound like a really odd question, and I'm not  
>> even
>> sure it can be done.  However, I'll put it out there just in case you
>> guys have an idea or two.
>>
>>     I've decided to learn how to play the electric guitar, but I'm  
>> only
>> able to afford a $10 amp from a pawn shop.  However, I have a fancy
>> computer sitting here with 5.1 digital audio abilities.  The only
>> problem is that I wasn't able to afford a midi guitar, just a  
>> standard
>> electric.  This means I can't just plug it into my Soundblaster Live
>> Drive midi port, and expect it to work.  I've seen in the store some
>> kits that allow you to play a guitar on windows using software you  
>> have
>> to buy, and thought I would try doing it with Linux for free  
>> instead.  I
>> don't need a recording studio, just the ability to play my electric
>> guitar through my PC speakers and possibly tune it using some  
>> software I
>> can find.  This may be totally impossible without having a midi  
>> device,
>> but I thought I'd give it a try.  If you know anything about this  
>> kind
>> of thing then I would be greatly appreciative.
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>
> It's been years for me but I managed to hook up my guitar to the
> old computer.  With some help from good old Radio Shack the chain was:
>   Guitar -> cheap amp -> amp head phone Jack -> Mic input on card
> At the time OSS was the audio standard for linux so recording was
> just about all I could do.  But given the tools out there today ( Jack
> + ardour )
> you could bypass the amp all together.  All that is needed is a nice
> adapter cord.
> -- 
> Ted Katseres
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