Originally Posted by: JLJamesI am trying to learn about electronics in order to record at home. I must admit that I am about as green as the green-est grass there is.
I have a Kustom Sienna 65 Amp, which has a line for a mic and the guitar. I have never tried to use both in it as of yet, but would like to know what would I need to get it through the computer. Can I run it directly from the amp to the computer, or do I need something in between the amp and the computer to make it work.
Can you burn a cd if I can get it setup the way I would like?
What would be a good program to download to get the best sound and ect.
I look forward to some insight in this.
Thanks for all your ideas.

What you need is a USB line out on your amp. That line out can then be used to connect to your computer. If you don't have a USB line out, then you will need to record via microphone

This will involve a microphone (captain obvious here) and an external interface. The external interface is a box that sits outside your computer. It will have 1 to many different inputs and possibly 1 to many outputs. The main thing here is that it have at least one input for your guitar/vox/bass and a USB or Firewire port to connect to your computer. If you go firewire, you would need to have a firewire port on your computer as well. USB is most common. From there, what ever software you are using to record (called a DAW - digital audio workspace) will/should be able to recognize your usb/firewire interface and allow you to record.

Though I've never done it, you might be able to get a decent recording by getting a microphone that can plug directly into your sound cards microphone jack. I wouldn't expect the best results from this, but it probably will work depending on your expectations of sound quality. This basically would allow you to bypass purchasing an external usb or firewire interface

For my setup, I have several options. I have a USB interface that connects to my pc, OR I can use my Boss GT100. The GT100 has a USB port on it that allows me to take that guitar signal directly out and into my computer completely bypassing the need for an external interface.

However, I like having the external interface because it adds flexibility for adding other inputs that I may want to record.