Taurus preamps?

[bongomania]

On the "coincidence front", Taurus put these pre's on the market several months ago--so that's not to say they weren't copying anyone, but at a minimum they didn't get the idea at NAMM.

[thepontif]

Well to be fair, I originally showed these at NAMM 2010 as an "up and coming" product. Maybe that was a mistake.

Either way, I have plenty to worry about running my own company before I should worry about others, even it were the case I was being copied. Anyway, it CERTAINLY wouldn't be the first time. You can't copy my experiences and skill set and they are cornerstones of what I have to offer A Pope preamp will always be a Pope preamp, no matter what anyone else does. But I digress.

[TafariH]

this preamp is very interesting, is there any audio test i can hear of it. not finding any on youtube

[sandmangeck]

Anyone know where to get one of these in the states?

[CSEbass]

Hello all. New to the forums here. I am currently testing a Taurus TM-2. 2-band preamp. It is pretty much the first 4 controls sans the Midrange control and the dsp switch and mid switch that are the other add ons.

Fitment is tight depending on the particular instrument you are working with. I haven't had much time to run it. I installed the 4 controls in a MIM FSR Jazz bass and found that the control plate had to be used as a scribe. I removed an 1/8" of material for the controls to mount and removed the shelf between the neck pickup and the control cavity. All in all a pretty tight install to get a preamp in.
Comparison between the Taurus and East. My thoughts are the preamp is more transparent than the East, but it is slightly compressed. The volume does not have to be modulated when switching from active to passive, which is nice compared to the East. Stacked knobs seem like they should be used and are not. Modular wiring is nice for controls, but soldering is still required. Screw terminals for pickups would be nice. Can run 9v or 18v. So far it is also fairly bright on the treble end of things. Overall a good unit, when compared side by side with the East. East's engineering is amazing with the fitment in mind. Just not a fan personally of how much the East colors the natural pickups tone. Just my .02 so far. Will drop a sound sample/video when I get around to it.

From left to right. Master volume with push/pull active/passive, blend, treble, bass.

[John East]

Originally Posted by CSEbass

. Just not a fan personally of how much the East colors the natural pickups tone. Just my .02 so far. Will drop a sound sample/video when I get around to it.

Just to throw a bit of light in here:

What you call the coloration, which it is of course, is the slight inbuilt pre-shape (gentle 2-3dBs boost) at the low and high end. It purposely doesn't have a flat response. I originally put it in to give a slight lift when going in to active, at a time when rigs weren't as good as the are now.

We've made a number without the pre-shape by request more recently.

Some players seem to really like the pre-shape, others prefer a completely flat system, and I fully appreciate why. If I were starting with a clean sheet again, in hindsight I would certainly allow for a neutral flat response option in the design. We have to make specific flat response versions currently.

Interestingly, one player, who works in the London West End shows I believe, has had several J-Retro units with the pre-shape, and I made him a flat one at his request, but in the end he swapped it back for a pre-shape unit. He liked that extra bit of immediate fatness it gives.

[CSEbass]

John. I apologize If my statement on your product caused any offense. I was just making a comparison on the two during my tests. I have heard of the pre-shaping, and I would imagine it will be as commonplace as the standard units. With preamps. I honestly enjoy the most transparent feel that doesn't color the natural organic tone of the pickups too much. I am by far a more commonplace user of passive tone controls. Preamps are something I typically have used for outboard applications only. This just so happened to be something I wanted to test between two units. I will say the ease of install on your J-Retro is the main thing I see folks gravitate towards. Comparing the two side by side and it is easy to see that one is direct drop in and the other requires so modification for fit. For those that don't want to mod, this is perfect. Your units being supplied with knobs and a control plate, screw terminals, and only one wire to solder is a huge selling point. Your customer service has also proven to be fantastic! The flexibility of tonal control is also proving to be far superior. I won't drop all my results just yet, but having midrange control is necessary. The Taurus in this configuration does not have it. Still confused why they didn't stack controls. I would have If I was building pre's.