Pitfalls and Common Mistakes (Input Impedance is Important!)
It is very important to have a line box or a preamp with an input that is designed for guitar (or bass) before the signal from your guitar enters your computer.
More technically speaking: the signal from your guitar must go directly into a high impedance input (1 megohm). Line inputs on mixers or sound cards are usually low impedance inputs (around 10 kilohms) which in most cases remove the high frequencies from your guitar, which in turn makes your guitar sound dull and lifeless.
Figure 11: Using a line box with 1 megohm input is one way to correctly connect your guitar. ("Guitar? That looks like a Jazz Bass!")
All of the real amplifiers we have simulated have a 1 megohm input impedance, and for the plugin to recreate the sound correctly, the guitar input to your system must have a 1 megohm input impedance!
Tip: If you don't have a line box or preamp, you could always check your stomp boxes. If the stomp box doesn't have the “true bypass” feature, chances are that it will work just like a high impedance preamp when it's in bypass.
If you want to check the impedance in the manual of your preamp, go to the “Technical Specifications” section and look for “Input Impedance”. In order to get the most accurate guitar sound and amplifier simulation, the input impedance should be 1 megohm (1 MΩ) (have we repeated this enough times now?). A value ranging between 500 kilohms and 4 megohms should also be OK.
Lots of Noise
Due to the highgain nature of guitar amplifiers, even the smallest input noise can (and will) be amplified a thousand times and sometimes become very disturbing. It is even more important to have a good signal when you're using an amplifier simulation than if you, for instance, are recording a crystalclear vocal track.
A rule of thumb is that the input stage should not have more noise than your guitar,
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