What about the TAURUS?

MC · Post by MC » Fri Sep 19, 2003 3:21 pm

Yeah right, show me someone who argues they're worth $2000 and I'll show you someone who has a set they are trying to sell on ebay or in a classified.

I HAVE used these live. They sound great but they are not worth $2000. Wonderful colours? Sorry. I love the Taurus pedals but they are a one-trick pony (and some trick). Only one waveform (ramp), the filter while beefy is not very interesting for resonant qualities, zero modulation options, and simple ADS EGs with shared D/R control. You do not get "wonderful colours" from a Taurus pedal, and after twenty years of experience programming analog synths I should know. They'll get great bass sounds - that's it.

I did MIDI up an acoustic drum kit on stage in the past. Worked great. Funny you should mention that.

If so many people won't part with them, then why are there at least three for sale at any given time on ebay?

Argyle · Post by **Argyle** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 3:38 pm

I've used a bunch of pedals - Taurus I, Taurus II, Crumar CPB-2, Multivox Basky, some sort of "St. Louis Music" thing, Roland PK5, and MIDIStep.

The only two I still own and use are the Taurus I and MIDIStep, although the Taurus is now more of a museum piece and I am hesitant to take it anywhere. One octave is about all I can reach when I stand up against a mic stand with a bass strapped around my neck. I'd think the 1.5 octave range of a Taurus II would be about the absolute limit of my reach.

Taurus I's have a good bass sound, but they really don't do high string sounds well at all. Listen to Rush's Hemispheres album, and compare it to the high sustaining sounds they used later on Moving Pictures. That's the difference between Taurus and an Oberheim poly. I can still remember that feeling of "Oh, @#$%" when I plugged in my Taurus the first time, thinking I'd be getting lush backgrounds like you hear on Exit Stage Left ... wrong!

Velocity and pressure sensitvity would be useless to me - I'm just not that good and I have enough other stuff to worry about. I crave simplicity in the pedals - step and go.

What I would like to see: either four oscillators or 2-voice polyphony with an ability to have at least 2 osc reach the 4' and 2' octaves, at least a simple sine/tri LFO for slow filter sweeps, a regular AC power supply, and definitely foot-tap switches to change maybe up to 8 different presets. And of course, the price has to compete with the alternative of buying some MIDI pedals and a Novation A-Station.

BrianK · Post by **BrianK** » Thu Jan 22, 2004 8:45 am

I agree - the old Taurus 1 (I had both) sounded good, but was too limited. The power of a MIDI bass pedal is too great (play various octaves, polyphonic stuff, samples, analog and digi synths, etc) and it doesn't cost much.

It would be interesting, would you pay over $1500 for a modern Taurus pedal, and how many do you think they would sell worldwide? I would guess maybe 15-250 total. That's not a lot, for having to make a new design.

I bet a nice cheap, simpler (no memory) analog synth would sell far more, and maybe make a pedal attachament for THAT as an option? Like a 2-osc Voyager with no memory/MIDI, some fun knobs...

sir_dss · Post by **sir_dss** » Thu Jan 22, 2004 2:49 pm

I bet a nice cheap, simpler (no memory) analog synth would sell far more, and maybe make a pedal attachament for THAT as an option? Like a 2-osc Voyager with no memory/MIDI, some fun knobs...

This is very true. Not that I would give up my Voyager for it, but there is a market for that sort of thing. Especially if it could give a true analog choice to people who want to buy the Micro korg and the new mini aleasis Ion Jr.

Codackussell · Post by **Codackussell** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 2:36 am

I'd like to see a Moog reissue of the Taurus I pedals, at the same old price- Around $700, or maybe a little less! It'd be awesome... We should start a petition! Seriously... We should try to convince Bob Moog that we need the Taurus back!!!!

goldphinga · Post by **goldphinga** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 6:58 am

i think moog would be wasting their time building taurus pedals again. its such a small market.im sure theres only a handful of guitarists out their that want/are able to play bass pedals whilst playing guitar anyway. but hey, moog is a builder of boutique/niche products so maybe a new taurus is on the agenda. personally i think it would be better investing r&d funds into something more useful like a voyager rack which adds more voices to the voyager.

MC · Post by MC » Mon Jan 03, 2005 10:45 am

Hey, the theremin is certainly a niche item - and look how well those have sold.

Codackussell · Post by **Codackussell** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 2:17 pm

That's very true! You don't hear those a lot, anywhere, but the do sell quite well!!!

goldphinga · Post by **goldphinga** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 3:16 pm

true but the theremin has more sound scope and is much more fun to play.u cant exactly play intricate stuff on one 8ves worth of bass pedals.they may sound fat but thats the only good thing about the taurus.

Codackussell · Post by **Codackussell** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 3:45 pm

Hey! If you don't like it, I'll gladly buy yours! Seriously... If any one doesn't want theirs, which I highly doubt, I'll buy it!

evoged · Post by **evoged** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 1:01 pm

I don't think Moogmusic will ever release a new version of the Taurus pedals.
For more info. go to www.rlmusic.co.uk and listen to the Richard Lawson interview with Bob Moog. Mr Moog explains the reasons why this is unlikely to happen.
For Taurus 1, just keep your eyes out on ebay, these pedals do come up, although now less frequently (so you will need to be patient). Contrary to my earlier post on this topic (now eating humble pie!), I got my Taurus1 pedals midi converted using the Kenton Electronics Pro Solo kit. They work great with the conversion! Greater flexibilty when recording and playing live. And on the matter of that legendary Taurus pre-set, it will probably never be bettered!

MC · Post by MC » Wed Jan 05, 2005 1:44 pm

I read that Bob Moog interview. A few points:

1) Bob ruled out a polyphonic but did not rule out a Taurus reissue.
2) Bob asked what was the feature that people wanted - the sound or the package? Bob acknowledged that the package is expensive but Richard confirmed that the sound was the feature of desire. It's a lot easier to reproduce the sound.
3) Richard told Bob that he had a waiting list of 50 people wanting Taurus pedals. That's just one dealer of many worldwide.
4) A few years ago Moog Music did have a survey on a Taurus reissue.

I wouldn't be so doubtful of a Taurus reissue. After all Don Buchla stated at NAMM2000 that he had no desire to reissue his analog modulars, and now he has the 200e.

Codackussell · Post by **Codackussell** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 3:35 pm

I didn't know that! Thanks for the info...

mee3d · Post by **mee3d** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 8:15 pm

With regards the Bob Moog interview . . Bob told Richard and I that the real issue is down to the cost of retooling . . Moogmusic Inc is basically too small a company to re-invest in the machinery to make thier own pedal mechanisms (as they did before) and the number of possible sales would make buying in a pedal board from Fatar far too expensive . . . also there are only a very limited amount of third party pedal board manufacturers available nowadays.

The Taurus sold well because it fitted the live music market place at the time . . things are different now, most live musicians would probably sequence a bassline then fuss with pedals?

The Source MIDId to a set of Roland PK5's makes an excellent and more versitile substitute to a Taurus.

Mal

MC · Post by MC » Wed Jan 05, 2005 9:04 pm

When I filled out the survey a few years ago, I told them that a Taurus reissue would be a better seller as a MIDI module - plenty of aftermarket MIDI pedals abound. That way it would appeal to musicians who want those big Taurus bass sounds but don't want a big set of foot pedals.

And the Moog Source does indeed serve as a Taurus I substitute; I patched a copy of the Taurus presets into the Source and the A/B was damn close. They may both make an appearance at AHMW this year.

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What about the TAURUS?

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