Overview of My Mobile Studio
If you have a traditional electric guitar (like my Epiphone ES-339 P-90 PRO) or an electro-acoustic guitar (like my Yamaha NCX1200R), then you need an adapter to connect your guitar’s phone jack output to your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Prior to Apple’s removal of the iPhone 7’s headphone jack, you could use a very cheap microphone adapter cable. But, these adapters frankly didn’t sound very good.
For those willing to spend between $100-$600, there are much better quality USB-based adapters available including: Apogee JAM and Line 6 Sonic Port for mobile use cases and Apogee Duet, Line 6 POD Studio UX2, and Roland Duo Capture EX for high-end home studio use cases.
At home, I connect my Epiphone ES-339 and my Yamaha NCX to my Line 6 Amplifi 150 amplifier using a 1/4″ phone jack and then connect the Amplifi via USB to GarageBand on my Mac. Even though my Epiphone Les Paul Ultra-III already has a USB output, if I connect my Les Paul Ultra to the Amplfi and the Amplifi to the Mac, then I can take advantage of the Amplifi’s 200+ tones.
My Mobile Studio
I am going to focus on how I jam when I’m not in my home studio. Because the Ultra-III has a USB jack built into the guitar, no separate interface box is required. I couldn’t find a non-proprietary male USB Type-B to Lightning adapter cable. The Epiphone comes with a heavy-duty male USB Type-A to male USB Type-B cable. If you prefer a similar but shorter cable, you can order one from Amazon here. You then need a female USB Type-A to male Lightning adapter cable. Connect them as shown below.
After starting GarageBand, select Amp. Select either Clean or Distorted.
Select your desired amplifier. GarageBand will then detect that a musical instrument has been connected. You should confirm that you wish to play your guitar, turning on monitoring. Tweak your amplifier’s settings according to your preferences. I recommend using headphones to isolate the iPad’s output (which isn’t very loud) from the original sound of your electric guitar.
Updated on December 20th, 2017
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