If you haven't yet read our general help article on the gear you need to play and/or sing on JamKazam, we recommend you read that article now and then come back to this one. 


Also, if you only play the acoustic guitar, and it's not an acoustic guitar with a pickup that you can use to connect the guitar with a cable to a guitar amp, then we recommend you read our help article on the gear you need for an acoustic instrument on JamKazam, as that will be a better guide for you. 


If you play electric guitar or bass guitar, then you're in the right place for a little deeper dive into the audio gear you need and how to set it up. There are, generally speaking, four different options for how to set your guitar gear up, as described below. Just pick the one that's right for you!



1: Connect Guitar or Bass Directly to Audio Interface & Use VST/AU Plugins for Tone


If you don't have a guitar amp or don't use a guitar amp or pedal board for effects to generate different guitar tones, then your best option may be to simply connect your guitar to one of the audio input ports on the audio interface for your Windows computer or for your Mac computer using your standard 1/4" guitar cable. Below is an image of the two ends of this cable type, just in case you're not sure.



Connect one end to your guitar, and plug the other end into one of the audio input ports on your audio interface, as shown in the diagram below. Then plug a pair of headphones into the headphone port on your audio interface. 


In this configuration, your guitar is sending a completely "clean" tone into the audio interface. If you want to apply other tones to your guitar - e.g. distortion, reverb, etc. - then you can use VST or AU software plugins to apply different tones to your guitar signal. JamKazam includes built-in support for VST and AU plugins, so you can do everything you need from inside our app.


If you also want to sing in session, you'll want to make sure you have a microphone, a microphone stand, and an XLR cable to connect your microphone to your audio interface (as pictured in the diagram above). If you're not going to sign, you may still want to get this gear, as you'll be doing a lot of talking in sessions, and this gives you high-quality vocal audio, which you'll find you really enjoy. But if you're only going to talk with others in sessions, then you don't have to get this microphone gear, and you can just use the built-in microphone in your Windows or Mac computer to talk in sessions. 



2: Use Amp and/or Pedal Board and Connect Either to Audio Interface


If you have either a guitar amp or a pedal board or both for your guitar, then one good option may be to simply connect your amp or pedal board to one of the audio input ports on the audio interface using a standard 1/4" cable. Below is an image of the two ends of this cable type, just in case you're not sure.



In this case, your guitar is connected with a cable to your amp, and your amp is connected with a cable to one of the audio input ports on your audio interface, as shown in the diagram below. 



If you also want to sing in session, you'll want to make sure you have a microphone, a microphone stand, and an XLR cable to connect your microphone to your audio interface (as pictured in the diagram above). If you're not going to sign, you may still want to get this gear, as you'll be doing a lot of talking in sessions, and this gives you high-quality vocal audio, which you'll find you really enjoy. But if you're only going to talk with others in sessions, then you don't have to get this microphone gear, and you can just use the built-in microphone in your Windows or Mac computer to talk in sessions. 



3: Mic Your Amp


If you have a guitar amp, then another good option may be to mic your amp. In this configuration, your guitar is connected with a cable to your amp. Set your amp to "room level" - i.e. it just needs to put out enough sound to sound right - you don't need it cranked up. Then take a microphone, attach it to a microphone stand, connect the mic to your audio interface with an XLR cable, and position the microphone pointing straight at face of the amp (i.e. where the sound is produced by the amp), just about 3" away from the amp. Having it this close is both: (a) best for audio quality; and (b) best for latency, because for every 1 foot away from the amp your microphone is, you've added one additional millisecond of latency.


If you also want to sing in session, you'll want to make sure you have a microphone, a microphone stand, and an XLR cable to connect your microphone to your audio interface (as pictured in the diagram above). If you're not going to sign, you may still want to get this gear, as you'll be doing a lot of talking in sessions, and this gives you high-quality vocal audio, which you'll find you really enjoy. But if you're only going to talk with others in sessions, then you don't have to get this microphone gear, and you can just use the built-in microphone in your Windows or Mac computer to talk in sessions. 



4: Lots of Guitars or Guitars + Other Instruments


For musicians who play lots of instruments - could be lots of guitars - or maybe you even play guitar + keys + mandolin or whatever else - if you prefer not to have to constantly be plugging and unplugging different instruments and resetting your audio input level as you swap from one instrument to another, we recommend that you read our help article for multi-instrumentalists. This help article provides configuration advice just for you.