Bass Pedal (Taurus, Roland, MIDI, etc) Club?

[twocargar]

I think there were a few manufacturers back in the 70's and 80's that made them, but nowadays the Taurus 3 is the only one on the market I believe.

[HollowBassman]

Originally Posted by torquil

Hi!

I'm considering getting some bass pedals for playing bass lines whilst playing guitar, recorder, or even cello (although the last one is probably too difficult to combine with the pedals).

I know of the Roland, Hammond, StudioLogic and Moog products. Is the Moog the only one with a built in synth, i.e. which is not a pure MIDI controller? Not having to use a separate synth would be convenient. Or are there other products which do not require an external synth?

From what I can tell, the following have built-in synths. I don't know anything about any of them, I just found them on google.

Crumar CPB-2

Eko K2

Firstman BS-999

Multivox Basky II

Multivox MX-450

SLM P-700

[RAMUSIC]

That Mutltivox MX-450 NEEDS to be paired with a Trace Elliot rig. And some black lights.

[twocargar]

Nice. Yeah, there's definitely a used market, but no other major manufacturers who make them except for Moog. There's always the DIY option.

Edit: Basyn sells a complete Baysn Analog Synth for $400 plus shiping (basyn.com). The inner board and analog synth are Howard Cano's design (Bass Pedal Club Member #0), and are sold by TB member bjlevine.

Originally Posted by HollowBassman

From what I can tell, the following have built-in synths. I don't know anything about any of them, I just found them on google.

Crumar CPB-2

Eko K2

Firstman BS-999

Multivox Basky II

Multivox MX-450

SLM P-700

[Engine207]

Originally Posted by twocargar

Edit: Basyn sells a complete Baysn Analog Synth for $400 plus shiping (basyn.com). The inner board and analog synth are Howard Cano's design (Bass Pedal Club Member #0), and are sold by TB member bjlevine.

Yeagh...I'd steer clear of Basyn. The proprietor is not what I'd call 'trustworthy' or customer-oriented. Describing the support as 'horrible' would be complimentary. Just my experience...

[superdick2112]

Originally Posted by torquil

Hi!

I'm considering getting some bass pedals for playing bass lines whilst playing guitar, recorder, or even cello (although the last one is probably too difficult to combine with the pedals).

I know of the Roland, Hammond, StudioLogic and Moog products. Is the Moog the only one with a built in synth, i.e. which is not a pure MIDI controller? Not having to use a separate synth would be convenient. Or are there other products which do not require an external synth?

I own a set of the Moog Taurus 3s. They are many things;
Powerful, well built, great sounding, user friendly....
But they are not entirely convenient.
They are heavy as hell, awkward to get in & out of their road case (and all but impossible to gig them safely without the case), and they take up a fair sized chunk of stage room.
A Moog Minitaur/Keith McMillen 12 Step setup is about 1/3 the cost and 1/8 the weight of the Taurus. This would be a great set-up to consider.
I only gig out about once every 6 weeks, so I don't mind hauling the beastly Taurus. I appreciate the footswitchable features & programmability, the quick (if awkward) setup, and mostly, I appreciate the killer sound.
A good bass pedal setup can be a whole lot of fun, but I highly recommend you consider your options & your intended use before making your purchase.
How much do you want to spend?
Will they be used on stage, or mainly at home?
Do you want light weight & easy to move, or extra features?
Choose wisely, and you will be a very happy camper.

[torquil]

Originally Posted by superdick2112

I own a set of the Moog Taurus 3s.
A Moog Minitaur/Keith McMillen 12 Step setup is about 1/3 the cost and 1/8 the weight of the Taurus. This would be a great set-up to consider.
I only gig out about once every 6 weeks, so I don't mind hauling the beastly Taurus. I appreciate the footswitchable features & programmability, the quick (if awkward) setup, and mostly, I appreciate the killer sound.
A good bass pedal setup can be a whole lot of fun, but I highly recommend you consider your options & your intended use before making your purchase.
How much do you want to spend?
Will they be used on stage, or mainly at home?
Do you want light weight & easy to move, or extra features?
Choose wisely, and you will be a very happy camper.

Thanks everyone, your responses have been very useful!

Although I enjoy the old school synth bass sounds in the context of prog rock (e.g. old Genesis/Rush/Yes), my primary application for this will be to imitate a bass line in a jazz or classical context, while using a clean sound on my electric guitar, or my classical guitar. So it seems to me that the tones in most of the old analogue bass pedals mentioned by HollowBassman will probably be too "harsh" in that application, after hearing some clips.

Perhaps it will be best to go the MIDI controller route (e.g. Roland, Hammond, StudioLogic). The Moog is too expensive. I do have a digital piano with some nice bass sounds, to which I can connect it, although it is a bit less convenient. I might buy some kind of small "synth in a box" at a later date if the digital piano proves to be too much of an annoyance. Or I might try to control a software synth on my computer as an alternative.

I do prefer the traditional bass pedal design (not the church organ style which is too large, but the typical style used on most electric home organs), so the McMillen 12 Step is ruled out. Thanks for mentioning it, though, because I had never heard of it. I just have to decide if I need more than one octave or not, and try to choose between the Roland/Hammond/StudioLogic.

It is only for home use for the forseeable future, although a rare gig might not be completely out of the question sometime in the future.

[torquil]

While I will primarily use it with guitar, it just occurred to me that I still want it to fit under my digital piano stand, the legs of which are spaced at a maximum of 81cm apart. So that rules out the Roland PK-9 and Hammond XPK-200. I'm now leaning toward the StudioLogic MP-117, which should fit nicely with a width of 74cm and still have more than one octave and velocity sensitivity.

[Calaverasgrande]

Originally Posted by superdick2112

I own a set of the Moog Taurus 3s. They are many things;
Powerful, well built, great sounding, user friendly....
But they are not entirely convenient.
They are heavy as hell, awkward to get in & out of their road case (and all but impossible to gig them safely without the case), and they take up a fair sized chunk of stage room.
A Moog Minitaur/Keith McMillen 12 Step setup is about 1/3 the cost and 1/8 the weight of the Taurus. This would be a great set-up to consider.
I only gig out about once every 6 weeks, so I don't mind hauling the beastly Taurus. I appreciate the footswitchable features & programmability, the quick (if awkward) setup, and mostly, I appreciate the killer sound.
A good bass pedal setup can be a whole lot of fun, but I highly recommend you consider your options & your intended use before making your purchase.
How much do you want to spend?
Will they be used on stage, or mainly at home?
Do you want light weight & easy to move, or extra features?
Choose wisely, and you will be a very happy camper.

Yeah, occasionally I have minor pangs of regret for buying the T3. It is an awkward design from a live performance perspective. It plays great and stays in tune, but dang is it a pain to move around!
I probably would not have bought one except that they went out of production and I happened to be able to afford one the month that was announced by Moog Music.

[Flux Jetson]

Just a quick note here, I've posted a progress report on my Cygnus-engined midi-bass pedal project.

Cygnus midi bass pedal conversion project-1

Sorry about the conversation interruption .... now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

[torquil]

Does anyone here know if the Studiologic MP-117 has a "hold" feature? I've contacted Studiologic by email with this question, but received no response.

I think the Roland pedals have such a feature, and I think it would be useful for me. The "hold" feature would let any note sustain indefinitely until a different key was pressed. In some situations it could be convenient to not have to hold the key down for the note to sustain.

[twocargar]

TB member wyrtti has an MP-117. PM him.

[howardcano]

Originally Posted by torquil

The "hold" feature would let any note sustain indefinitely until a different key was pressed. In some situations it could be convenient to not have to hold the key down for the note to sustain.

I find the "AutoHold" feature of the Cygnus to be very useful, both for sustaining a note (or notes) while I activate footswitches on other effects, and for playing legato lines with one foot. It also permits termination of the held note(s) with a quick tap on any note.

The first time I ever encountered the feature was on the Casio M10, and I fell in love with it immediately!

[Flux Jetson]

Originally Posted by howardcano

I find the "AutoHold" feature of the Cygnus to be very useful, both for sustaining a note (or notes) while I activate footswitches on other effects, and for playing legato lines with one foot. It also permits termination of the held note(s) with a quick tap on any note.

The first time I ever encountered the feature was on the Casio M10, and I fell in love with it immediately!

So wait ... my Cygnus pcb has this autohold feature? HOW COOL IS THAT!!!!

[OysteinosaurusG]

hi guys! I'm still working on my pedals and today I finally got around to installing the cygnus. It works! I couldn't believe it when I actually got a signal from the pedals for the first time. I've been playing them through my roland gaia all day. blows my mind!

I have one problem though that I hope you guys can help me with. Some pedals (the lower C and D, to be exact) will not stop sending a signal to my synth. It's not an autohold issue, I've turned that off. What do you guys think is most likely? Did I mess up the cygnus installation with all my amateurish soldering? Or do I just need to adjust the pedals themselves?

I can post a video a bit later. I really hope you can help!

[OysteinosaurusG]

Here's a video to show you what the problem is:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kksvih7tdqcolr8/cygnus.mp4

Thanks in advance!

[HollowBassman]

Originally Posted by OysteinosaurusG

hi guys! I'm still working on my pedals and today I finally got around to installing the cygnus. It works! I couldn't believe it when I actually got a signal from the pedals for the first time. I've been playing them through my roland gaia all day. blows my mind!

I have one problem though that I hope you guys can help me with. Some pedals (the lower C and D, to be exact) will not stop sending a signal to my synth. It's not an autohold issue, I've turned that off. What do you guys think is most likely? Did I mess up the cygnus installation with all my amateurish soldering? Or do I just need to adjust the pedals themselves?

I can post a video a bit later. I really hope you can help!

I didn't use the cygnus so I can't say if "amateurish soldering" could cause this, but I had a similar problem on my pedalboard when a defective button stuck and wouldn't turn off.

If you turn it off and then back on, which of the following happens?

A.)The stuck notes don't play until they are pressed.(just like in the video)

B.)The stuck notes are playing at start-up without pressing the keys.

C.)The stuck notes are not playing at start-up and remain silent when keys are pressed.

D.)Other

[twocargar]

Pedals look good! Glad to hear it was an easy install. I hope the directions and other info i provided were helpful.

HollowBassman has good suggestions for troubleshooting. I would see if you can take a piece of wire and trigger the note that sticks by touching one end to the pedal terminal and one to the ground wire on the Cygnus. If the note doesn't stick, the pedal mechanism probably needs to be adjusted. I've had to do that one several of my pedal projects.

By the way, which AC adapter did you end up getting? I'd love to share that with my other European customers.

Originally Posted by OysteinosaurusG

Here's a video to show you what the problem is:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kksvih7tdqcolr8/cygnus.mp4

Thanks in advance!

[Calaverasgrande]

Just gotta say I updated my Taurus 3 pedals firmware last weekend and they are working much better with midi time code. Pretty fun to start the drum machine then set up an arpeggio on the T3 and jam along with it.
Before the update the T3 was always off time a little bit and had kind of a rocky time(not in a good way).

[OysteinosaurusG]

Thanks for the advice and help, guys! For some reason the problem seems to have solved itself. No sign of yesterdays problems. Weird! That probably means that the symptoms may return later, right? I'll work on the housing in the meantime.

Twocargar: The installation went smoothly! Instructions were easy to find and follow

I went with an adapter that had multiple different tips, could change voltage, reverse tip polarity, etc.. It was both cheap and (relatively) easy to set up for a novice like me. here it is: http://www.clasohlson.com/no/Batteri...or/Pr364447000