Guitar recording advice

I sometimes record electric guitar to my PC, just for fun, but I need to record some guitar samples that need to be good quality.

I have some decent equipment but there are a few very weak links that I never bothered fixing, and I need to do that now asap. The main thing I think I need to get, is a converter to convert a guitar lead into a small headphones size to input into my Soundblaster card.

I already use one but it's old and I think it might be mono. I saw that you can get stereo ones now, and no doubt the one I use isn't stereo because it's been kicking around my house for a decade or more. Does anyone know where I can buy one? And does anyone know of a good one? I looked on maplin website but I'm not sure if I'm looking at the right thing...

They have this:
Maplin > Metal 2.5mm Stereo Plug

and this:
Maplin > 2.5mm Stereo Plug to 3.5mm Stereo Socket Adaptor

But I wanna be sure that is the right thing and that there isn't something better from somewhere else. I don't really care how much it costs because I don't really need much else.

Thanks :)

First you need to ascertain if your soundblaster card has a 2.5mm socket or 3.5mm.
It is more likely to be 3.5mm so what you will need is per link below

Amazon.co.uk: 3.5mm PLUG TO 6.35mm JACK - STEREO ADAPTER: Electronics & Computing

Guitar leads are 6.35mm I believe

By the way the first Maplin plug you linked to is not an adaptor, just a plug you need to attach to a headphone if your old one is broken

The second link is an adaptor but from 3.5mm (headphone) to even smaller 2.5mm which some MP3 players sockets are

what quality are you expecting?? if you D.I a 1/4 inch jack chances are itll sound a bit rough. also no need for stereo as a guitar output is in mono.
does the sound card have a preamp? in order to D.I with reasonable results you will almost certainly need a D.I box and preamp.

Thank you guys, very kind :)

I think I am going to go a different route though. My friend just told me that he is going to give me something even better. It's some kind of "audio interface" so I basically plug my guitar into a proper sized hole in his magic box (oo' er), and it then takes the signal into my PC via USB.

He said it's a crystal clear sound and it can add all kinds of effects too. Sounds ideal! He has a home studio with all kinds of ridiculously expensive equipment, so although this thing is great, he doesn't need it anymore and was happy to part with it :woowoo:

I'm chuffed because like timizere said, going straight into the soundcard is always going to be a bit rough. I bought this Soundblaster for listening to CD's, MP3's, and playing games. I assumed it would be ok for playing a guitar into sometimes as well, but it seems that's not really the case! Oh well. At least this little gadget will work.

Thanks again guys.