The first model of the Moog Taurusbass pedalsynthesizer was created and manufactured by Moog Music from 1976 to 1981. Commonly called the Taurus I, it featured a 13 note organ-style pedal board that looked very similar to the pedals of a spinet organ. In fact, the Taurus was intended to be part of a larger organ-like synthesizer nicknamed the Constellation that would have also included two keyboards that eventually became the Polymoog and the Multimoog. The Taurus I had a five-octave range and came with three preset sounds and one user-programmable patch, all controllable using foot switches. The three presets were named Tuba, Bass, and Taurus.
An analog synthesizer housed in a sturdy rugged casing, the Taurus I was much more popular than its successor the Taurus II, produced from 1981 to 1983. The Taurus II featured more pedals in a new black casing and had a modulation wheel and a pitch bend wheel among other new features. The control panel on the Taurus II was raised to waist height on a central shaft. The Taurus II is essentially a Moog Rogue that one plays with the feet and has a low note priority.
Taurus pedals are very rare and often the original bakelite pedals need replacing because they have grown brittle over time. Many modifiers of this synthesizer make replacement pedals from wood. Today, Taurus II units will resell for around half as much as their predecessors.
Taurus pedals were used by such musicians as Pink Floyd, Electric Light Orchestra, Yngwie Malmsteen, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson from Rush, Styx, U2, Jon Anderson and Chris Squire from Yes, Sting and Andy Summers of The Police, and Mike Rutherford & Daryl Stuermer of Genesis, and Francis Buchholz of the Scorpions. Ex-Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett had a set mounted waist high which his brother, John Hackett, used to play with his hands for the intro of Clocks - The Angel Of Mons from the album Spectral Mornings. Adam Jones of Tool has stated in a recent Guitar World interview that he uses the Moog Taurus along with an Access Virus B synth to trigger live effects. Most recently, Menomena bassist Justin Harris has made the Taurus an integral part of his band's sound.
