Apr 29
LAST UPDATED: 11-26-2011
Connecting your guitar to your iPhone, iPod, or iPad can be a simple matter of using the built in headphone mic, or getting a converter or interface for your iPhone’s headphone jack. The benefits are great. You’re iDevice will become a portable practice amp, and a powerful multi-track recording studio. See my list of best iDevice apps at the end of this article–but first, you need to connect your guitar to your iDevice.
Below I outline 4 different approaches to connecting your guitar to your iPhone, from the most simple to the most complex. Be sure to read all of them to find out which is best for you. Here’s what you’ll see covered:
- Approach #1: Connecting Your Acoustic Guitar to the iPhone
- Approach #2: Connecting Your Electric Guitar or Bass to the iPhone by Plain Wire into Headphone Jack
- Approach #3: Specialized iPhone Guitar Adapters (Recommended)
- Approach #4: Connecting a Microphone to the iPhone
Approach #1: Connecting Your Acoustic Guitar to the iPhone
This is low tech, but works. Simply place your Apple headphones around your neck or in your ears and play! The mic on the headphone will pick up the sound of your guitar in the room. You can also experiment by wrapping the headphones around you headstock or laying the headphone mic on a table, chair, or stool right in front of your guitar’s sound hole. This is practically studio quality sound.
For some people this is all they’ll need, but if you want to take it to the next level and use a better microphone I’ll tell you how below.
Approach #2: Connecting Your Electric Guitar or Bass to the iPhone by Plain Wire into Headphone Jack
There isn’t an all in one perfect solution on the market yet for connecting your guitar to your iPhone yet, but a few companies are working on these and I’ll review them when they’re out.
There’s also a potential technical issue with this approach which I talk about below. (See the orange warning section).
Plain Adapters that Can Be Used for Guitars
For now my recommendation is to simple get a colors_productname”>3.5mm 4 conductor plug adaptor that you can plug into your iPhone and then plug your guitar cable directly into it. If you don’t know what that is then don’t worry. Just hop over here to KVConnections.com and grab yourself one pre made for about $20. I own two.
Here’s a second adapter that also is of a high quality fromTouchMic.com.
DIY Options
colors_productname”>You can also take a look at the parts and make your own if you’re handy with audio wires. RadioShack should have everything you need.
Here’s a post called “Do it Yourself iPhone Guitar Adapters” where you can find a number of plans for building your own iPhone guitar adapters.
Store Bought iDevice Cable Adapters Made for Guitars
| Name | Look | Description | Price/Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|
| GuitarConnect | 
|
Griffin Technology also has a cable only called the GuitarConnect Cable for $17 bucks. This is a good quality cable. Heavy-duty 1/4″ mono plug connects to your guitar, bass, or keyboard. 1/8″ (3.5 mm) jack allows you to connect through headphones, amp, or powered speakers. 6′ total cable length. | “Works great with my guitar and iPad! I plugged it into my Bose iPad dock and it works great with Garage Band AND Amplitube!”More Reviews |
| Peterson | 
|
Peterson makes a guitar cable which is much cheaper than the GuitarBud and GuitarConnect at about $12. However you can’t connect your headphone into it at the same time as your guitar so you’ll won’t be able to hear your guitar in real time which is doesn’t make the Peterson adapter very useful. | “This adapter cable is a must for those who purchased the iStrobo app for iPhone. It tunes all my instruments to the precise note I need it to be.”More Reviews |
WARNING: There is a potential problem with the above adapters…
What about the impedance issue?
Okay, so if you’re and audiophile or purest you’ll know that between the iPhone and the guitar you’re not going to have a matched impedance. It’s not great because you can end up with too low a volume in some apps and even sometimes distortion, or poor tone quality. Follow this link for a more detailed discussion. Like I said it’s not a perfect solution, but to be fair you can actually get pretty good and usable results with just a wire for now. For most apps I’ve used I’ve been happy with the results.
One work around is to put a pre-amp between your guitar and the iPhone. I’ve used an ART Tube MP with great results, or you can stick a stomp box between your iPhone and guitar like a distortion pedal, reverb, or chorus pedal, etc. Ditto if you have a direct input box.
Approach #3: Specialized iPhone Guitar Adapters (Recommended)
These are advanced adapters that either plug into the headphone jack or the external device jack at the bottom of your iDevice and which are designed just for connecting your guitar to your iDevice.
These are more than just wires and have circuits to at least match the instrument’s impedance with your iPhone. In most cases these are more expensive than the simple cable solutions above, but are a better option if you doing more than just tinkering with attaching your guitar/bass to your iDevice.
| Name | Look | Description | Price/Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|
| AmpKit Link | “Top PICK”
|
Peavey has entered the iPhone guitar adapter fray with their AmpKit LiNK audio interface. This will let you plug in a guitar and your headphones and you can get the free AmpKit app software. | “I did my research before purchasing the Amplink Link. Most reviewers preferred the Ampkit Link over the other guitar interfaces (like the iRig, Griffin Guitar Connect, PRS etc).”More Reviews |
| iRig | “Top PICK”
|
IK Multmedia, makers of Amplitube have created the “iRig“, along with supporting iPhone app software. The Amplitube apps are already available on the App Store and the iRig guitar adapter is currently shipping. Note, I have seen this sold at the Target retail chain. | “I got lost for hours the first time I plugged my guitar into iRig and iRig into my iPhone. The presets are good but you’ll likely make your own.”More Reviews |
| GuitarJack |  |
Sonoma Wireworks, makers of the pretty famous Four Track app have created the “GuitarJack”. This one doesn’t plugin to your headphone jack but into your iPhone’s bottom port. $199 price tag.Not cheap.GuitarJack Model 1 is not compatible with iPhone 4, iPad or iPod touch (4th gen.). This product has been discontinued, though launch of a new product is expected at some point. | |
| Jam |
|
Apogee Jam is an adaptor that is fully digital fitting into your iDevices port as the GuitarJack does. If you have a Mac you’re in luck the Jam works with your Mac too. There’s also a level adjustment, and led to indicate input level which are very handy. Apogee claims this is the first high quality interface, but GuitarJack should provide similar performance. Available for about $99. A great option and half the price of the similar GuitarJack which is no longer available. | “It’s great for laying down scratch tracks, jamming and late-night sessions that won’t wake your wife or your dog.” More Reviews |
| Mobile In | 
|
Legendary Line 6 POD device for your Apple iPhone or iPad with new Mobile In digital input adaptor and Mobile POD app Guitarists of all stripes can finally put legendary POD power in their pocket and take it everywhere they go! 64 fully adjustable models based on celebrated vintage and modern gear (32 guitar amplifiers; 18 stompbox and rack effects; 16 guitar cabinets) Access over 10,000 presets and download them right to your Apple device – all free! |
More Reviews |
| iO Dock |  |
Alesis has released their iPad only iO Dock. This is a pro level solution and not just a simple wire based interface. This is the most robust interface for an iDevice available. If you’re interested in taking your iPad recording much more seriously or have the money to spend this is worth it. This turns your iPad into a console. You get a direct in just for guitar level instruments, two inputs via XLR/quarter inch jacks with phantom power, with switch-able phantom power, MIDI controller, and two outputs for studio monitors, and headphones out. How sweet is that? If anyone would like to buy me one of these for Christmas I would luv u. Sold for about $200. |
If you’re on a budget the IK Multimedia or Peavey adapters are your best bet. Either will work well. I currently own an iRig because it was first to market, but I recommend you check out the AmpKit Link because a lot of work has been put into designing it.
Approach #4: Connecting a Microphone to the iPhone
Again here why not just use the built in headphone mic? It’s simple it’s cheap and it sounds good.You can sing in to it, or mic your instrument.
If you want to go more pro and use your expensive studio microphone then the same rules apply here as they do for setting up a guitar connection. You’ll need the adapter cable, and you’ll likely want a pre amp between your mic and the iPhone.
One other solution is to pick up a quality condenser microphone that you can snap onto the iPhone’s connection port at the bottom of the phone. I personally like the Blue Mikey which you can pick up on Amazon for $50-$60. This will give you stunningly good quality room recordings, or close up vocal recordings. You can also use it to mic a guitar or bass cabinet, or any live instrument for that matter. I own one, and I’m very happy with it. You may be tempted to save some buck by buying the old version for about $40, but I don’t recommend you do that because it’s not iPhone registered and the new one has some features that are by far worth the difference.
Comments, Questions?
This is an evolving space and so I may have missed something. Let us know if you have any other ideas for hooking up instruments to the iPhone in the comment section below. If you have a question just go ahead and ask!
Okay, now that you’re guitar is connected, how do you record and use it like an amp?
- Guitar Effects and Practice Amps for iPhone, iPod, or iPad
- Best Misc Guitar Apps for the iPhone/iPad to Cure Your Bordom
This post was written by
Michael Jae.
Michael is a guitarist of over 18 years and has taught lessons, played in front of live audiences, and wrote and recorded his own acoustic fingerstyle albums. He's especially fond of playing classic rock, heavy metal, classical guitar, and fingerstyle acoustic guitar in the style of Leo Kottke and John Fahey.
The Tramp and Rokbloc allow you to play guitar along with music on your iPhone or iPod.
Great article.
I can’t believe no one has actually solved the hardware problem for getting a guitar plugged into the iPhone. PRS Guitarbud tried, but failed miserably.
I just hope Ground Up Audio’s solution actually maintains the integrity of the tone as it makes its way through the interface, so the apps can work with a decent sound from the start. Don’t let us down Ground Up Audio!
And yes, Amps & Cabs is a killer app.
Hello, I’m very interested in this subject. In your post you mention “… you can actually get pretty good and usable results with just a wire for now. For most apps I’ve used I’ve been happy with the results.” I understand the available wire solutions and may make my own, but what are the apps that you have used it with that you refer to in the quote?
The only ones I know of are Amp&Cabs by Ground Up Audio, and JamAmp by PRS and Bond Audio. Are there other guitar amp and/or effect apps that you know about? If so please reply to this comment, or you can email me at justin@neighborhoodsounds.com
Thank you for your time.
I’ve shown my son this page. He is wrapped. He didn’t know you could connect your guitar to your iPod. Thanks for the how to.
@Warren: Thanks. Looks like the Rokbloc is a nifty pre-amp. You could certainly use that to boost and control your levels into your iPhone. Here’s a vid if anyone else wants a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8etg9XhFHs
@Justin: Yep, I plan to do a review of the apps out there soon, but my current favorite by a wide margin is RiotFX. That app has currently 9 effects built into it! It just doesn’t record yet and doesn’t have a metronome, but the developer is working on getting those features in. Recently he reduced latency and added the chorus effect. If you must have recording check out Guitar FX which has not great but decent effects, though only 3.
I have found a solution to build a cable by yourself to connect your guitar to your iphone.
It will not crash the app, you don't have a dc voltage on your guitar, checked it with Amplitube for iphone (great app!!!) and it works pretty well for me.
check out http://www.ltdan.de/iPhone.html
Hey ltdan, awesome work! Thanks for the instructional post. Some of us are do-it-yourselfers or we don’t have $50 bucks to plop down on an adapter, so it’s nice to have some options you can hack together.
Wondering if the sound, once sent to the IPOD, can then be directed to an onstage amplifier through the headphone jack. Is there a connecting cable for this?
Hi John,
Sorry for the late reply, missed your comment initially. But, yes, you can often do this. If for example you’re connecting your guitar through the headphone jack then you’ll have a splitter with two plugs on the end coming out of your iPhone/iPod. In one plug you put your guitar, in the second plug which is normally for your headphone, you just route that signal to your amp/speaker cabinet. Then just make sure whatever app you’re using for signal processing on your iPhone will let you monitor your playing in real time–just about all of them do. That should do the trick!
Technology continues to amaze me. The fact that we can now physically connect an acoustic guitar to headphones blows my mind, but that the quality of sound will actually be exceptional is amazing. I love the advancement of technology especially when it supports my love of music.
Really Decent Post AND I want TO Put THIS Post IN MY Weblog.
I bought the Peavy Link for my Ipod Touch, and I've researched most of the other options available. Link works well for my Dean Soltero (passive dual humbuckers), OK for my Washburn hollowbody (passive single humbucker), and barely at all for my Luna ukulele (active electronics). The Link takes two AAA batteries.
If I'm not mistaken, Ipod Touch's headphone jack and 20 pin dock are both I/O, allowing input (ie in-line headhone mic) and output.
I bought a Gigawire 20pin dock-to-1/8m cable and a 1/8-to-1/4 adapter. It does not do anything, in or out.
I have a 1/4m-to-1/8m cable. Running direct from any of my instruments to the headphone jack does nothing.
I suppose I should be happy that the Link does what it does, but its construction is less than ideal and the connections aren't as sound as I'd like. Direct line cables are better quality and less expensive, but don't seem to work.
My question is this: What do the two AAA batteries do that make the Link adapter work (somewhat, for my purposes), and why don't my other cables produce a signal? On this same line of thought, will the Irig, Guitarbud, and Guitarjack work on Ipod Touch when direct cables, splitters, and adapters of better quality construction won't? If so, WHY?
~D!
(See above: Ipod Touch G2, 30-pin dock connector, not 20
~D!
Hi, just wondering what you would recommend more; the irig or the guitar adapter from touchmic/kvconnections. I'm also curious as to what you think of the apogee jam or have you not had the chance to try it yet?
Hey Julian, I would get the iRig over the touchmic/kvconnections cable if you’re okay spending a little extra money. I would actually recommend the Peavy AmpKit Link before the iRig. You can check it out here. The Apogee Jam I haven’t tried yet. It’s in a class all itself though, since it plugs directly into the iDevice port you should technically get better sound. Is it worth it though? Probably not worth the price. For most people the iRig or preferably the AmpKit Link will work just well sound quality wise without the cost. You can see my iRig review here.
Hello, i made DIY cable and it worked great with my epiphone les paul special II, but i recently got a Epiphone 333 Tom delonge sig, and it doesn’t work, says no iput, any suggestions and whats causing that?
Luis, it may be the iPhone is confused. I’ve found that if I plugin one guitar or device, then switch to another right afterward, the iPhone sometimes can’t recognize the second. Try resetting your iPhone or iDevice and then plugin the Epiphone 333 and try again.
Thanks for putting all these posts together. What I am looking for is a way to plug my bass into my iPod Touch 3rd Gen and play along to music so I can learn new material for my band…without keeping the family up at night. I have read through many of the articles on the various ways to connect your guitar to the iPod but they all seem to focus on the effects, amp modeling etc. I personally don't care about all that stuff because I'm not using the iPod to play through live. I just want to be able to chug along to tunes and be able to hear myself playing along with the iPod. Do any of these apps allow this specific functionality? Thanks again!!
Yeah, any app will do that for you. What you have to keep in mind is that you must have an app of some sort to interpret the audio coming in from your guitar and do something with it. I’d get the RiotFX app, or the free Amplitube app. Those will let you use the iPod as a practice amp without a lot of fuss. If you want to go REALLY bare bones you could actually record into the iPod’s native recorder, but you’ll get a completely dry guitar signal.
was wondering if anyone knows a way to record from the output from a roland drum module to the iphone?
Dennis, you should be able to do it the exact same way you would a guitar. As long as the output is an audio out and not midi or digital. Otherwise just get a guitar adapter and you should be able to make it work.
I was wondering if this is possible with any instrument. I know a few guys that play the guitar, both bass and acoustic that will be thrilled when I show them this article. How much power can the ipod, ipad or iphone take before they blow up? I know on some of those they can put out a lot of amps. Just curious thanks for the post.
That is really good information for anyone who wants to connect up their iPhone to a guitar. Of all the guitar sites I have come across I reckon yours provides some of the most interesting tips and practical advice. Keep the good stuff coming.
Great article! Thanks so much for compiling all the info!
One thing: The Ampkit link goes to the Griffin cable at amazon.
Grazie!
JC
I see that the connections which are depicted here show ipod touch models. So I wonder if I can do the same with an ipod classic. I just bought an ipod 160 gigabyte classic which is a seventh generation model. It is relatively new and plays video. I hope this is not limited to the latest models. I would think that an ipod that can play video must also be compatible with a connection that is solely for audio purposes.
Yes, you can do this on any iPod, iPhone, or iPad.
Please clarify one thing for me. Is the purpose of connecting an Iphone or ipod to a guitar to record the output of the guitar in a popular format such as .WAV? If that is the case, can you connect an ipod to a synthesizer machine like the ones with beat making drums and organ keys? I never realized the versatility of the ipod until I began to see how musicians and producers use mobile devices when they’re on tour with a live show. I’m sure there are other ways to use the ipod which I have yet to learn. This is great news for me since I am buying a 160 GB ipod 7th generation model.
RE: “Please clarify one thing for me. Is the purpose of connecting an Iphone or ipod to a guitar to record the output of the guitar in a popular format such as .WAV?”
A: Well, you could do that, yes, but that’s not the main purpose. Even better you can do multi-track recordings and mix and publish your own songs right from the iDevice. You can also simply use it as a practice amp to hear yourself playing through different effects.
How can I know what the old version of the Blue Mikey is, the one you say to avoid? A model number sure would be helpful!
Yes, look for the “Mikey 2.0″, it has a much rounder profile/shape.
Hello, that’s good info, but my question goes a little deeper in this topic, Do you know a way that I could connect my guitar to an iPod/iphone and send that audio through a wireless network into a mac, and then… receive that audio in a multitrack program like Mainstage 2, (in an audio channel)
That way we wouldn’t need to buy a wireless transmitter and receiver system, for playing live, wireless. Even though, latency could be a problem, Anyone has an idea?
Wow, that’s an interesting question. Off the top of my head. No. The closest thing I can think of is there are apps you can record into using like an iRig, and then you can then download the recorded file directly from your computer. But, it’s not real time. In order to accomplish what you’d want you need some kind of app that can broadcast what it’s hearing through the iPhone mic input. If you can get it broadcast then you can set your computer to listen. And go from there. If you find a way let me know. Sounds kind of neat.