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Setting up Bonza for use with Electric Guitars

Guitarists have many ways of creating their sound - from traditional amps and microphones to fully virtual rigs. Bonza is flexible about how your tone is created, as long as your audio reaches the app cleanly and reliably. At a high level, Bonza just needs a single, stable audio feed that represents your guitar sound. How you get there is up to you.

Common Electric Guitar Setups

1. Real amp + microphone + audio interface

This is the most traditional approach.

  • Guitar → amp

  • Microphone pointed at amp's cabinet speaker → audio interface

  • Audio interface → Bonza

This setup works very well and gives the most 'real-world' amp feel. Make sure your mic input level is healthy but not clipping, and that your interface input is selected in Bonza.

 

2. Amp simulator pedal or hardware unit → audio interface

Many modern amp simulators output line-level audio.

  • Guitar → amp simulator (pedal or rack unit)

  • Amp sim output → audio interface

  • Audio interface → Bonza

From Bonza’s perspective, this behaves almost exactly like a mic’d amp - the tone is already 'finished' by the time it reaches the app.

 

3. Amp simulator used as the audio interface

Some amp simulators double as USB audio interfaces.

  • Guitar → amp simulator

  • Amp simulator (USB) → Bonza

This is a clean and convenient option.
However, most amp simulators do not include a built-in microphone for voice chat.

To speak to others in Bonza, you’ll need to:

  • Add an external or built-in microphone

  • Combine it with your amp simulator by creating an aggregate device in your machine's Audio MIDI setup page. For help on this, please see our Knowledge Base article on Aggregate Devices.

For internal routing, try:

 

4. Software / plugin-based amp simulator

This is a fully in-the-box setup.

  • Guitar → audio interface

  • Interface → amp sim plugin or software

  • Software output → Bonza

Because your guitar sound and your microphone live inside software, this setup requires internal audio routing so Bonza can receive:

  • Your processed guitar signal

  • Your talkback microphone

To complete these audio paths:

We do not recommend this setup on lower-powered machines with limited CPU cores, as internal routing and real-time processing can increase latency and system load.

 

Important Notes on DAWs & Audio Routing

  • Bonza and a DAW cannot use the same audio interface inputs at the same time

  • Internal routing tools are required (for now) to complete audio paths within your computer

  • These tools act as a bridge, allowing your processed guitar sound to appear as a single input device for Bonza

A helpful rule of thumb: If your guitar sound only exists inside software, you’ll need an internal audio router.

 

Summary

  • Bonza is agnostic about how you create your guitar tone

  • Hardware-based setups are simplest and most reliable

  • Software-based rigs are powerful, but require extra routing and CPU headroom

  • Talkback microphones are essential for communication and may require aggregation or routing tools