having issues hearing guitar in garageband.

i have scoured the internet for any and all resources on connecting a guitar to garageband, and they all have said the same thing. i use a usb cord to connect it, and then i select mono output (which is all that's available to me) with monitoring on. as well, i have tried both "system setting" and "built-in output" for the sound output options. however, i cannot hear anything that i am playing. i can't hear it as an amp, or during recordings (i mainly want to use it for its amplification), and what frustrates me is that i did this same process last night, and it worked, but now nothing is doing the trick. help me out?

by the way, i am using garageband 09.

Someone once said to use a USB digital audio interface. I found that that doesn't do any better. Fact is, you need an amp between the guitar and the Mac. Period.

First of all, welcome to the board.

Second, it would help to know what Mac and OS you are using.

Third, I am interested in just how you are connecting a guitar to GB without some kind of interface in the first place. AFAIK no one builds a guitar with a USB interface (yet) instead of a 1/4" jack, so at some point there has to be some sort of conversion between the analog signal to a digital signal that is transferred into your Mac. Now, perhaps you have this in place already and have just forgotten to mention it here, in which case it is just a matter of making sure that the Mac recognizes the device properly. If not, I am trying hard to keep from imagining the stubby end of a USB cable shoved into the jack of your poor guitar.

You don't need an amp in between the two, but you do have to have some sort of interface that acts as a pre amp and audio converter. IK Multimedia has the Stealth Plug that works pretty well for this, and there are several options to get audio into your Mac that won't break the bank.

Post up a little more info about how you are currently connecting the guitar to the Mac and we should be able to help out.

- C

i said that wrong. you're right. i'm using a usb conversion cord in between the guitar and mac (macbook from exactly a year ago with 10.6.3), although i cannot for the life of me remember the brand or name of the cord. one end fits into the input jack of the guitar, and the other goes into the usb port. and it lights up green when it's properly connected. that's all i know.

i know nothing about preamps for macs, so any knowledge on that is welcome.

OK, I figured you already had something like that in place, but I like to joke every now and then.

Sounds like the Stealth Plug or something very similar, so you're on the right track. What you do need to do is find out if you have all of the updated drivers for everything, and since you are on the latest version of Snow Leopard, find out if what you have is compatible in the first place. But if you got it working once, chances are you can get it working again.

Start with making sure that your drivers for both hardware and software are completely up to date. There should be some software necessary for your USB cable to work properly, and locating that will let you know exactly what you are dealing with. The software for the Stealth Plug actually has to be registered with IK, so you would most likely remember if you had done that.

If it is not the Stealth Plug, then there is still going to be some software involved, so check all of that first. Beyond that it should connect and is then simply a matter of routing your inputs and output properly.

from what i remember, the cord i use is plug-and-play. there was not a software disc that came with it.

Yep, just checked out a bunch of those and if it's not the Stealth then it should be plug and play. Your issue should be just a matter of routing as long as the Mac is picking it up. Under your system preferences/sound you should indeed have the audio out set for built-in audio since it doesn't sound like you are running an external interface. On the input side (same window, just click the input tab) you need to select whatever option represents your cable. The only other options should be line in, and built-in microphone. Once you have that done, it should automatically route your audio-in properly whenever you plug in the USB cable.