How do I get started?

Equipment Needed

A computer with Rocksmith 2014 (or the original) installed



A Rocksmith Real-Tone Cable



A Guitar with a 1/4” jack



An Amplifier



A guitar signal splitter with ground lift



At least two (2) instrument cables*

One or more effects pedals, or a multi-effects pedal (for each additional pedal, you will need another instrument cable or patch cable)**



A noise gate pedal (with an additional instrument cable)



A small mixer (I use a 4 channel USB mixer)



A PA system or individual speaker



Headphones



A second guitar splitter (the ground lift will not be required on this one)

Warning

Splitting your guitar signal

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Excessive noise from a ground loop

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Lifting ground from your Amp

Calibrating your guitar in Rocksmith

Noise from single coil pickups

So, you want to play your guitar through Rocksmith 2014 (or Rocksmith), along with a real guitar amplifier? Depending on how complicated your setup is, you will need the following equipment:Optional equipment includes:* More instrument cables will be required for more complicated setups.** I'm going to assume that if you have multiple effects pedals, that you know how to hook them up.Before you do anything, make sure that you can play the game successfully. You need to make sure that the game properly detects notes from your guitar, the volume is acceptable, and tuning is working correctly. If you're having any problems with these, don't bother continuing with this guide; chances are, this will make your problems worse.Because you want to route the signal from your guitar to two destinations, you need a splitter that will allow you to send your clean guitar signal to the game, while allowing you to use an amp, with or without effects and pedals in the mix.If you think you can save some money, by buying a cheap 1/4" y-adapter, you may experience noise problems, so when you have the money, I advise that you buy a real guitar signal splitter. I recommend the Lehle P-Split when a ground lift is required, but other splitters may work.Some people have complained about the price of the Lehle P-Split. This is not the only splitter that you can use. And, if you have a multi-effects pedal you may already have the ability to 'lift' the ground at that point, allowing you to use a cheaper splitter, such as the Morley ABY Splitter/Combiner, or even a cheap y-adapter. You also have the option of using a pedal that has a parallel output; in other words, a pedal that supplies the original 'dry' signal out of a second output. Effectively, this type of pedal can be used as a splitter.It all boils down to using something that has parallel outputs, and can separate ground from one side of your signal. As mentioned in the comments below, there are also Direct Input (DI) boxes that can split the signal for you, for less than the cost of the Lehle (see SMPRO DI-1 active di-box with ground lift). Keep in mind that some of these alternatives require different types of cables than just standard instrument cables, or additional cable plug adapters, which I'm not covering in this guide.Bass players can use something like this: VT Bass Deluxe If you notice an excessive humming noise from either your amplifier or from the sound coming out of Rocksmith, and the hum goes away when you disconnect one of the output cables from your splitter, you probably have a ground loop. This occurs when there are multiple paths to "electrical ground" in your setup, and when there is a difference in the electrical potential between those paths.If you think you are dealing with a ground loop, and you purchased a splitter that has a ground lift, make sure to press the button. This separates one of the ground paths from your signal, so that you don't have electrical current flowing in the wrong direction (out of scope for this guide).If you don't have a splitter with a ground loop, or you are using a cheap y-splitter, your only option is to make sure that all of the involved equipment (amp, pedals, computer, etc) are plugged into the same power source. This means that if you have more than two electrical systems (i.e. computer and amp) in your chain, you will have to plug everything (including the computer) into the same power strip. This results in all of the equipment having the same reference ground, which should minimize, but might not eliminate, the sources of ground loops.Keep in mind that the more devices with different grounding points you have in your setup, the more likely you are to run into this ground loop situation. For most users of this guide, you will be able to get away with a decent splitter or with just your amp and your computer plugged into the same outlet.If you're interested in more information on this topic read Ground Loops - Eliminating System Hum and Buzz If you seem to have a ground loop, but your splitter doesn't have a ground lift switch, you might be tempted to lift the ground from your amp by using a three-prong to two-prong adapter (for US connections - I don't know how ground is supplied in other countries). The best answer for lifting ground on your amp: Don't do it. The current flowing through your amp can seriously injure you, or even kill you. Playing through an ungrounded amp, or an amp that has a damaged ground, can be a very unpleasant experience. This is mostly an issue with Tube amps, but really applies to anything carrying significant electrical current. Check your favorite Search Enginer for "Ace Frehley" for a good example.You may still hear a slight hum from the pickups themselves. If that's the case, make sure you've calibrated your guitar in Rocksmith. But, when Rocksmith prompts you to mute the strings, only touch them briefly to stop any notes ringing out, and then immediately remove your hand. If you leave your hand on the strings when the game prompts you to mute, you are effectively grounding the guitar, which will remove noise. Since the game doesn't hear the noise, it will calibrate incorrectly, allowing noise through when you're playing the game. If you mute the instrument audio in the game, you won't hear this noise anyway, at least from the game.Keep in mind that using a multieffects pedal in a second path to an amp may still introduce noise to what you hear, even if Rocksmith is calibrated correctly. For instance, the POD HD series of pedals allows you to use effects that actually model input and out impedance of the virtual pedals. This can result in certain pedals introducing noise to your signal, if you don't know how to compensate for it in the pedal. Also, when using a lot of overdrive or distortion, you will introduce additional noise. Again, this additional noise can be dealt with, but you need to understand your pedal. This is way outside the scope of this guide, so you're on your own to fix this kind of noise.If you continue to have noise after properly calibrating your guitar in the game, and if you don't already have one, you may want to look for a noise gate pedal that can give you some control over how much "noise" you want to deal with. Keep in mind that clipping too much noise from your signal may also impact Rocksmith's ability to properly detect notes, so this needs to be done with some care.I recommend the ISP Decimator II pedal, but cheaper pedals can work. If you have a multi-effects pedal, just check to see if it has noise gate functionality.