What do I need to get started with Guitar Rig?

i am new to this, so let me start of by saying thank you to all those who post to help others, and an even greater thank you to all those who will post to answer my question.

I have been playing guitar for a few years, and until recently i learned about guitar rig.
other than (obviously) a guitar and a laptop, What would i need (equipment wise) to use guitar rig while playing live?

and in your opinion will the sound quality be equal to, greater, or inferior than using BOSS pedals.

Thanks!

 

Unless you have a laptop in which you can plug in a guitar you'd need an Audio interface.

Plug the guitar into the interface, connect the interface to the computer, connect the interfaces output to an amp, and play your heart out.

 

Re: Boss pedals vs Guitar rig; I think theres merit in both. I personally, and I'm sure many others, do use both types. Some perhaps like certain pedals in the chain before going into the audio interface. I like to use a Boss CS-3 before Guitar rig which is my home setup.

For the studio at my mates house I use an old zoom8080 which I just leave there for jams and practise. Occasionally I use Guitar rig there too.

It's all about different flavours really. There is even a slight difference in sound quality between GR2 and GR3, some fx like synths sound clearer in GR2, while GR3 is a more well rounded tool. Like how one guitar might make you feel like shredding, another might make you play gentle chords.

The most important thing in any setup is the quality of the guitar's pick-ups (and ofcourse, the guitar overall). Poor quality pick-ups do show up in Guitar rig maybe more so than going through a real amp and/or fx boxes.

Also, If you're new to this and do intend to go gigging with your setup then the full Guitar Rig 3 package might be what you need. If you want minimal noise levels then get a high-quality sound card (we're talking £350-1000+ here to make a difference). The control via the GR3 hardware is still very handy, though, even with a seperate sound card.

There are options like pro midi pedal-boards too, but, it's more money, but, would allow you to get just the software version of GR3.

Good luck!