Taurus bass pedal synthesizer

The first model of the Moog Taurus bass pedal synthesizer was created and manufactured by Moog Music in the mid 1970s. Commonly called the Taurus 1, it featured a 13 note piano-style foot pedal board that looked very similar to the foot pedals of an organ. It had a 3 octave range and came with 3 preset sounds and 1 user-programmable patch. The three presets were Tuba, Bass, and Taurus.

An analog synth housed in a sturdy rugged casing, the Taurus 1 was much more popular than its successor, the Taurus 2. The Taurus 2 featured more pedals in a new black casing and had a mod wheel and a pitch bend wheel among other new features. The Taurus 1 pedals were used by such musicians as Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson from Rush, Styx, U2, Jon Anderson and Chris Squire from Yes, The Police, and Genesis. They are very hard to find and often need the original bakelite pedals to be replaced because they have grown brittle over time. Many modifiers of this synth make replacement pedals from wood.