Now that I’ve completed my articles on the amplifier emulators I have access to on my iPhone, I thought I’d write some articles on the interfaces that make it possible to connect your guitar to your iPhone. When I first started the review process I was aware of four interfaces. That soon changed to seven. I believe I am now aware of nine. The most recent interface I’ve managed to add to my collection is the JamUp Plug by Positive Grid. It’s one of the easiest interfaces to use and it’s quickly becoming one of my favourites.
Let me show you why.
If you’ve never connected your guitar to your iPhone—shame on you—you want it to be easy and as tidy as possible. This is one of JamUp Plug’s early advantages. But first, let’s go through the necessities of the guitar/iPhone connection.
With these two basics under control you now need the major component … The guitar/iPhone interface. JamUp Plug looks like the photograph I took of it (below). Coincidence? I think not.
The 1/8″ male connection plugs into your iOS headphone socket while the two inputs allow you to plug in your headphones (1/8″ female connection) and your guitar cable (1/4″ female connection). So, you’ll need to get those two items.
As I mentioned earlier, JamUp Plug connects to your iOS device easily and in a tidy way. The reason I find this interface so tidy is because it positions your cables in a way that don’t tend to pull on the iOS device making it difficult to rest on a table top (or similar surface).
Apart from being tidy, an advantage the JamUp Plug has is that it doesn’t require you to remove your device’s case for the connection to fit correctly. And the connection feels incredibly solid. Despite the interface’s size and light weight, it seems sturdy.
Another benefit to the JamUp plug is that it connects to so many of the apps I’ve tested recently. In fact, the only exception I’ve discovered is the Mobile POD app by Line 6 (which requires the Mobile In adapter). To make it easier for people to know which apps work with JamUp Plug, I’ve put together this handy document.
The results are also available as a PDF complete with links to all of the apps mentioned (click their icons).
As you can see, JamUp Plug provides you with a connection to a large number of amplifier emulator options on your iOS device. It does all of this for just $19.99 USD (making it one of the most affordable interface options on the market.
Finally, one more important detail about JamUp Plug. The sound quality is seriously good. The only issue I had with it was when I experienced some minor interference (in iShred LIVE and GuitarTone) when I neglected to put my iOS device into flight mode. To be fair though, I am still using an iPhone 3GS and my house suffers from major electrical interference (there’s one corner of my house where the phone connection works properly).
Below is a recording I made using the JamUp Plug in JamUp Pro. For the first time I’m using a HTML5 SoundCloud plugin because the JamUp Pro icon is greyscale (matching my site’s theme). Awesome … Enjoy!