The Taurus Bass Pedals is a Moog octave pedal. It pairs well with the Ampeg RB-110 and the Ampeg Rocket Bass RB-115 Combo Bass Amp.
Taurus Bass Pedals
Moog · pedal
The Moog Taurus is a foot-pedal-controlled analog bass synthesizer, originally introduced in 1975 as the Taurus I and reissued as the Taurus III in 2010. It features 13 foot-activated keys covering one octave, two foot sliders for filter cutoff and loudness, and a classic 24 dB per octave Moog ladder lowpass filter with selectable preset sounds including Bass, Tuba, and Taurus. The monophonic synthesizer generates deep, powerful bass tones through a two-oscillator design tunable across five octaves. Moog Taurus pedals have been used in hard rock and progressive rock live rigs to supply bass-register synthesizer notes, most notably by Malmsteen for low-end reinforcement during live performances.
What stands out
“The monophonic synthesizer generates deep, powerful bass tones through a two-oscillator design tunable across five octaves”
— from the listing
“Deep, full analog bass with the characteristic Moog ladder filter resonance — the Taurus produces bass tones that combine organ-like sustain with synthesizer filter character, fundamentally different from a guitar bass note”
— from the community notes
“Players use it as a bass pedal accompaniment in live performance contexts where a single artist covers both guitar and bass register parts simultaneously”
— from the community notes
“The Moog Taurus produces bass tones with a warmth and depth rooted in its ladder filter topology — the filter resonance shapes the harmonic profile in ways that make even simple bass notes feel harmonically full and present”
— from the reviews
“It features 13 foot-activated keys covering one octave, two foot sliders for filter cutoff and loudness, and a classic 24 dB per octave Moog ladder lowpass filter with selectable preset sounds including Bass, Tuba, and Taurus”
— from the listing
- bass
- filter
- resonance
- full
- analog
- hard rock
- fundamental
- rounder tuba like character
Genres the Taurus Bass Pedals is commonly used in
- Hard Rock
- Progressive Rock
- Funk
cited
Inferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag. - Soul
cited
Inferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag. - Experimental
cited
Inferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag. - Electronic
cited
Inferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag.
Amps that pair well with the Taurus Bass Pedals
Ampeg RB-110
Ampeg
18% matchfills a frequency gapFills in a frequency range the other side doesn't cover, instead of piling more onto what's already there. (warm → bright)
What Ampeg RB-110 brings here leans toward gritty — that's worth building a pairing around
Comes later in the signal chain
Ampeg Rocket Bass RB-115 Combo Bass Amp
Ampeg
18% matchfills a frequency gapFills in a frequency range the other side doesn't cover, instead of piling more onto what's already there. (bright → warm)
The Taurus Bass Pedal's analog filter and resonance give the RB-115's massive preamp a synth-bass low end.
Comes later in the signal chain
Orange Little Bass Thing
Orange
tonal matchComes later in the signal chain
Run Orange Little Bass Thing after it and the bright edge settles into something more warm
Port City Pearl Head
Port City
tonal matchComes later in the signal chain
Run Port City Pearl Head after it and the bright edge settles into something more warm
Ampeg Rocket Watts
Ampeg
tonal matchComes later in the signal chain
Ampeg Rocket Watts leans warm right where the bright tone needs it
Hiwatt Park P18LH 'Little 45' Handwired18W
Hiwatt
tonal matchComes later in the signal chain
Run Hiwatt Park P18LH 'Little 45' Handwired18W after it and the bright edge settles into something more warm
Orange BT1000H Terror Bass 1000-Watt Bass Amp
Orange
tonal matchComes later in the signal chain
Where this leans bright, Orange BT1000H Terror Bass 1000-Watt Bass Amp answers back warm
Orange Terror Bass
Orange
tonal matchComes later in the signal chain
Where this leans bright, Orange Terror Bass answers back warm
Pedals that stack with the Taurus Bass Pedals
Dunlop MXR Distortion Plus
Dunlop
25% matchshapes the dynamic responseShapes how the tone responds to picking dynamics rather than its frequency or gain. (dynamic → compressed)
What Dunlop MXR Distortion Plus brings here leans toward warm — that's worth building a pairing around
Comes later in the signal chain
Catalinbread SFT
Catalinbread
24% matchfills a frequency gapFills in a frequency range the other side doesn't cover, instead of piling more onto what's already there. (bright → warm)
Catalinbread SFT's warm balances out the bright tone
Comes later in the signal chain
T-Rex Junior Roomate
T Rex
17% matchsits in the right chain slotPlaced for where it does its job cleanly in the chain, not for a tonal interaction with the anchor.
Put T-Rex Junior Roomate after Taurus Bass Pedals in the signal chain, where it won't crowd Taurus Bass Pedals — goes in the amp's FX loop (or last, into a clean amp)
Comes later in the signal chain
Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler
pedal
17% matchsits in the right chain slotPlaced for where it does its job cleanly in the chain, not for a tonal interaction with the anchor.
Run Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler after Taurus Bass Pedals in the signal chain, where it won't crowd Taurus Bass Pedals — goes in the amp's FX loop (or last, into a clean amp)
Comes later in the signal chain
SolidGoldFX Commodore Breaker Overdrive
Solidgoldfx
tonal matchComes later in the signal chain
Where this leans bright, SolidGoldFX Commodore Breaker Overdrive answers back smooth
Dunlop Blue Hippo Optical Tremolo
Dunlop
tonal matchComes later in the signal chain
Run Dunlop Blue Hippo Optical Tremolo after it and the bright edge settles into something more warm
Pigtronix Philosopher's Rock
Pigtronix
tonal matchComes earlier in the signal chain
Pigtronix Philosopher's Rock goes in front of Taurus Bass Pedals in the chain
Crazy Tube Circuits Venus
Crazy Tube Circuits
tonal matchComes later in the signal chain
Crazy Tube Circuits Venus leans warm right where the bright tone needs it
Questions people ask
What pairs well with the Taurus Bass Pedals?+
Strong matches from rig and tone-complementarity evidence: Ampeg RB-110, Ampeg Rocket Bass RB-115 Combo Bass Amp, Orange Little Bass Thing — What Ampeg RB-110 brings here leans toward gritty — that's worth building a pairing around.