newbie question: can a bass guitar be plugged directly into the T3 to generate sounds that get colored by the T3, rather than using the pedals? If not what kind of interface device would allow this?
No. The Taurus 3 has no audio input. However the new minitaur which is based on the Taurus 3 does, so maybe look at that instead.
If you have a Roland MIDI pickup installed on your bass, you could potentially play any synthesizer (including all of its internally generated sounds) that has a MIDI input, including the Taurus. If you simply want to “color” your bass tone by running it through the filter section of the Taurus, then you could do this with the new tabletop Taurus unit, the Minitaur.
That’s a 13 pin connector on the Roland pickup, I think you need the Roland “head” to get any Midi signal to another unit, tho I could be mistaken.
I’ve triggered the T3 using a Sonus B2-M, it’s not “coloring” the bass signal but adding its voice to it, and I found that minimally useful in my application compared to using effect pedals such as the (discontinued) Akai Deep Impact bass synth and a Fulltone Bass-Drive. If I were to do it all over I’d get the Markbass Super Synth Bass Pedal, which (to me) is a dead ringer for the Deep Impact sonically, and the Bass-Drive. I’ve put a Minitaur in my shopping cart, but don’t think it’ll get much use as a bass guitar filter.
I’m curious what does the original poster wants to get out of putting his bass guitar signal thru a T3 filter? Not being a wiseguy, it’s just that what sounds like a good idea may in fact be the wrong way to go about it. Lots of variables here.
This is true. You’d need a unit such as the Roland GI-20 to convert the 13-pin pickup cable to midi information for driving the synth.
Regards,
David Smyth
NZ
Actually, I think it’s as simple (and cheap) as adding one of these..
I’ve looked into these and they have a pretty bad reputation for false note triggering etc. But who knows? - it might work out fine.
Regards,
David Smyth
NZ
You can eliminate a lot of false notes by limiting pitch bend to a semitone or two.
A lot of the false notes aren’t really falsely triggered, they are the steps in MIDI notes between bends or slides up or down the scale.
The real drawback is the first generation of these devices just don’t track quickly enough.
I guess what I really ment to say is they have a bad reputation in general, mainly due to poor tracking aswell as other issues (such as what I called “false triggering”/what you described).
I’m curious what does the original poster wants to get out of putting his bass guitar signal thru a T3 filter? Not being a wiseguy, it’s just that what sounds like a good idea may in fact be the wrong way to go about it. Lots of variables here.
Thank you for your discussions. Being new to all things Moog, I was toying with the (uninformed) idea that the T3 could also serve as an incredible effect pedal for my bass guitar, but I now (correctly?) understand that with a MIDI interface the bass would trigger the T3’s own sounds vs. affecting the bass audio. I still hope to acquire and play with a T3.
Would it also be possible to run a bass thru a Moogerfooger that could provide a Pitch out (don’t recall offhand which, if any do) and send the CV signal into the CV pitch of the Taurus (or Minitaur for that matter) ? That wouldn’t color the initial bass sound, but if it worked, you would have the Taurus doubling your basslines.
That is the unit I use, and yes there were nothing but bad reviews on Sweetwater when I bought it. From my experience owning the A.R.T Nightbass SE digital bass pre and the Akai Deep Impact as well as the Adrenalinn I am familiar enough with the tracking issues of these kinds of devices to be confident that the Sonus would suit my purpose, and it does. Plus at a hundred bucks it was cheap enough.
Anyway, if you watch the Lee Sklar Sonus vid you will see the lines he plays are mostly above the first octave on his (long scale) bass. In general, the Sonus does not track (process) low notes as quickly/cleanly as it does higher notes, thus playing in that position is the most consistent when using this device with a long scale bass and little practice time.
You do have to play cleanly/precisely, and forget poppin, slappin, machine gun riffs or even moderately paced runs without a whole lot of practice to determine what works. On the flip side, you will never forget the day you plug in to a synth like a Korg M3 and play a velocity-curved orchestral patch!
is it okay to plug your guitar directly to the cd input of your amplifier? can anybody help me please? thanks.
I’m glad it’s working well for you! I guess I was going by online reviews which seem unfavorable as you mentioned.. I’m interested in Bass control of my synths, but I need something polyphonic - I’m looking into the Roland Pickups and the GI-20 processor (which is sadly alot more expensive than the B2M 
).
What model amplifier do you have? Is it a proper guitar amplifier or more of a home theater soundsystem?
Regards,
David Smyth
NZ
If we’re talking home stereo, I wouldn’t try it. Always good to have a guitar amp, other wise you can blow a capacitor or even a whole channel. There are a ton of guitar amps on the used market that can be had for fairly cheap. FWIW, I use a Phonic MK50 for my keys. I bought my Phonic on e-bay for $79 new in box. 
Guitar amps are much easier to find, and sometimes they cost even less.
Does that bass to midi thing have velocity/volume? Otherwise just midi notes is kinda weak.