The motherboard audio likely has a microphone in, may have a line in or may combine the two inputs into one jack. Neither the microphone or line inputs have the correct impedence for guitar or bass pickups. The input jack on an amplifier is called a high-z or high impedence input. Plug a bass or guitar directly into the motherboard jack and the recorded sound will be dull and distorted. You need something with a high impedence input or to convert the analog signal to digital outside the computer.

The most inexpensive solution is to do an online search for a guitar to usb cable. I recently bought one for less than $10.


Jim Fogle - 2026 BiaB (Build 1217) RB (Build 4) - Ultra+ PAK
DAWs: Cakewalk Sonar - Standalone: Zoom MRS-8
Desktop: i7 Win 11, 12GB ram 256GB SSD, 4 TB HDD
Music at: https://fogle622.wix.com/fogle622-audio-home