Guide
How to record electric guitar at home on a laptop
You can record electric guitar with no microphone and no amp. Plug the guitar into an audio interface, put an amp plugin on a track in your DAW, and record while you listen on headphones. Below are the signal chain, the minimum gear, the steps, and the mistakes beginners make.
The signal chain, from string to file
If recording is new to you, it helps to know what each piece does. When something goes wrong, you'll know where to look.
- 1
Guitar and cable
The pickups make a weak electrical signal, and it travels down the cable. It isn't an amp sound yet.
- 2
Audio interface
It turns the guitar signal into digital audio your computer can handle. Its input gain knob sets how loud the signal is going in.
- 3
A track in your DAW
The track is the recorder. It saves the incoming signal as an audio file.
- 4
An amp plugin on the track
It adds the amp sound to the clean guitar signal. In most DAWs the recorded file stays clean and the amp sound is added when you play it back, which is why you can change the amp sound after you record.
- 5
Headphones
This is where you hear the amp sound, from the interface's headphone jack.
The minimum gear
Electric guitar and a guitar cable
The same ones you already practice with. You don't need a microphone or an amp.
An audio interface with an instrument (Hi-Z) input
A laptop's headphone/mic jack isn't made for a guitar signal, so the sound comes out thin and noisy. The connection guide covers the setup.
A laptop (macOS or Windows)
Any laptop that runs your DAW and amp plugin. If it crackles at a small buffer size, raise the buffer one step.
Wired headphones
Plug them into the interface. Wireless adds a delay you can feel, which makes it hard to play in time.
A DAW (recording software)
An app that records audio tracks and loads plugins. Free ones exist. Check that it supports the format your amp plugin comes in (VST3 or AU).
How to record, step by step
- 1
Check the sound before you open a project
Connect everything as in the connection guide, and first play through the amp software's standalone app, without the DAW. If you hear the amp sound in your headphones, with no doubling or echo, the trickiest part is done. Close the standalone app before you open the DAW: with both running, you may hear the sound twice, or the DAW may not be able to open your audio interface.
- 2
Start a project and set the tempo
Pick the song's tempo (BPM) and turn on the click. Playing to a click keeps separate takes lined up with each other. If you don't know the tempo, start slow enough to play cleanly.
- 3
Add a mono guitar track and the plugin
Create an audio track and set its input to the mono input your guitar is on (usually input 1). A stereo pair (1-2) can put the guitar in one ear. Put the amp plugin on the track and switch on input monitoring so you can hear it. If your interface has direct monitoring, turn it off.
- 4
Test with your loudest part
Before the real take, play the hardest-hitting part of the song and watch the track's meter. Lower the input gain if it touches red. Peaks around -12 to -6 dB leave enough room. A take that's a little quiet can be turned up later; a clipped one can't be fixed.
- 5
Record, listen back, repeat
Record a few bars, stop, and play them back. Listen for timing against the click, buzzing, and wrong notes. Don't record over a take you might want back. Keep it on its own take or track, and redo only the bad bar. Tuning can drift as you play, so check it between takes.
- 6
Save the project, then export a file
Saving the project and exporting a file are two different things. Saving keeps your tracks and plugin settings so you can keep editing. Exporting (also called bouncing or rendering, depending on the DAW) makes one playable audio file of the whole mix. WAV keeps full quality; MP3 is easier to send. Save often while you work.
Common beginner mistakes
Recording too loud
When the input clips, the sound turns harsh and can't be repaired later. Stop raising the gain before your loudest note touches red.
Hearing yourself twice
If you hear a doubled sound or an echo, two monitoring paths are on, or the standalone app is still open next to the DAW. Use the interface's direct monitoring or the DAW's input monitoring, not both. To hear the amp plugin, turn the DAW's on and direct monitoring off.
A track that isn't armed
In most DAWs, hearing yourself (monitoring) and recording (record-arm) are separate buttons. After your first take, look for a waveform on the track. No waveform means nothing was recorded.
Mismatched sample rates
If a recording plays back too slow or at the wrong pitch, the interface and the DAW are set to different sample rates. Set both to the same one, 44.1 or 48 kHz.
Putting EG Tone on the recording track
EG Tone is the amp-sound part of this chain: an electric guitar amp and effects plugin for beginners that you place on the guitar track. The recording itself is done by your DAW.
- Load it as a VST3 plugin on a guitar track in your DAW. On macOS it also works as an AU plugin.
- Amp modes run from clean to high gain, with a built-in cabinet model, so you can try different sounds on the same recording.
- Every knob has help text, and a guided tour walks you through the real screen, one part at a time.
- Easy mode shows one to three knobs per effect, and Pro mode shows every control. You can switch between them on screen.
- A tuner and a metronome are built into the same program, so you can check your tuning between takes.
EG Tone is a one-time purchase, not a subscription.
Explore EG ToneNew to connecting a guitar? Start with the connection guide. If you hear crackles or delay, see the latency guide, and the metronome guide helps with playing to a click. The tuner on this site is free to use, with no signup.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I record electric guitar without an amp or a microphone?
- Yes. Plug the guitar into the instrument input of an audio interface, record it in a DAW, and make the amp sound with a plugin. Miking an amp means running the amp loud, which is a lot to ask at home.
- Can I plug my guitar into the laptop's headphone jack to record?
- It's not recommended. That jack isn't made to take a guitar signal, so the sound tends to be quiet and thin, with extra noise. Use an audio interface with an instrument (Hi-Z) input.
- Can I change the amp sound after I've recorded?
- Usually, yes. Most DAWs save the clean guitar signal and add the amp plugin when you play back, so you can change the amp mode or settings, or swap in another plugin. If you bounce the effect into the file and replace the original, you can't undo it, so keep the first recorded track.
- Why do I hear my guitar twice, or with an echo, while recording?
- Two monitoring paths are on, or the standalone app is still open next to the DAW. The interface's direct monitoring sends the raw guitar straight to your headphones, and the DAW's input monitoring sends the amp sound a moment later. Together they sound doubled. To hear the amp plugin, turn direct monitoring off and use only the DAW's input monitoring.
- How loud should I record?
- Your hardest strum should never touch red, and many people treat peaks around -12 to -6 dB as plenty. Advice varies a little from source to source, so recording slightly quiet and turning it up later is the safe side. A clipped recording can't be fixed.
- Which DAW should I use, and do I have to pay?
- Any DAW works if it records audio tracks and supports the format your amp plugin uses (VST3, plus AU on macOS). Free DAWs exist, so you don't have to pay to start. If you switch later, your recorded audio files move over, but project files usually don't.