Ace Tone

Ace Electronic Industries Inc., or Ace Tone was a manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, including electronic organs, analogue drum machines, and electronic drums, as well as amplifiers and effects pedals. Founded in 1960 by Ikutaro Kakehashi with an investment by Sakata Shokai, Ace Tone can be considered an early incarnation of the Roland Corporation, which was also founded by Kakehashi.[1] Ace Tone began manufacturing amplifiers in 1963.[1]

Ace Tone TOP-1

Products

Electronic Keyboards

Clavioline
Main article: Clavioline

Combo Organ
  • TOP-1[3][5] (1968 or 1969)[6]
  • TOP-3 (Phenix)[4] (1965)[6]
  • TOP-4 (Phenix)
  • TOP-5[6] (c. 1969)
  • TOP-6 (c. 1972)[6][7]
  • TOP-7[6]
  • TOP-8[6]
  • TOP-9[3][Media 3] (1968 or 1969)[6]
  • GT-2 (c. 1975)[8] — predecessor of Hammond X-2 (c. 1978) and possibly Hammond B-100W (c. 1983)
  • GT-5 (c. 1971)[8][Media 4] — predecessor of Ace Tone X-3/X-3W (c. 1978) and possibly Hammond B-250W (c. 1983)
  • GT-7[7][Media 5] (1971)[6] — predecessor of Hammond X-5 (c. 1978) and Hammond B-200 (c. 1980).
  • X-3/X-3W (c. 1978)[9][10] — although model name evokes Hammond X series, it was shipped under Ace Tone brand.
combo organ accessories

Home Organ
Ace Tone unknown  home organ model. (possibly Ace 3000 in the 1970s)
  • TO-S1 (c. 1966)[4]
  • A-122
  • B-422[Media 6]
  • B-5
  • C-422S
  • Ace 1000 / 2000 / 3000 (c. 1970s) — designed based on Hammond Cadette series. Ace 3000 has built-in cassette recorder on the lower right.[12]

Organs (OEM)
National SX-601 (1963) exhibited at Roland Corporation Hamamatsu Lab.
Hammond VS-300 Cadette (1973–?)
  • National (Panasonic) SX-601 (1963)[4][5]
  • Hammond VS-300 Cadette (1973–?) — although early Cadettes was built in Japan by Yamaha/Nippon Gakki, later models in the United Kingdom was built by Ace Tone/Nihon Hammond.[Note 1][Note 2]
  • Hammond F 1000 / 2000 / 3000 (1970s) — these models built in England in the 1970s, were variations of Ace 1000 / 2000 / 3000 designed & built in Japan, based on Hammond Cadette series.[12]

Electronic Piano
  • AP-100 Electronic Piano[8]

Synthesizers

Effects


Drum Machines
FR-2L / Hammond Auto
FR-3
  • R1 Rhythm Ace (push-button electronic drum percussion)[3] (1964)[2][13]
  • Rhythm Ace R-3   (1966)[4]
  • Rhythm Ace FR-1[3][5] (1967) [Note 3][A][H]
  • Rhythm Ace FR-2L[3][7] [A][H]
  • Auto Rhythm FR-2D [S][H]
  • Rhythm Ace FR-3[3][5] (c. 1967) [A][H],[R]
  • Rhythm Ace FR-3S [M]
  • Rhythm Ace FR-4 [M]
  • Rhythm Ace FR-6/FR-6P[7][8][10] (c. 1972[5] or 1974) [A][S]
  • Rhythm Ace FR-6M [M]
  • Rhythm Ace FR-7M
  • Rhythm Producer FR-7L [R][H]
  • Rhythm Producer FR-8L[8][10] [A][M]
  • Rhythm Ace FR-13
  • Rhythm Producer FR-15[10] (1975) — partly programmable rhythm machine[Media 13][Media 14]
  • Rhythm Ace FR-20 (Floor type)[3]
  • Rhythm Ace FR-30 (Floor type)[3]
  • Rhythm Ace FR-60 (Floor type)[7][8][10]
  • Rhythm Ace FR-70 (Floor type)[7][8]
  • Rhythm FEVER FR-106[Media 15] [S]
  • Hammond Auto-Vari 64 (AV-64)[8][10] [A][H]

Note: Rhythm Ace series were known to be shipped under multiple brands as follows:

Since 1967, Hammond Organ Company distributed Rhythm Ace under Hammond brand.
Hammond Auto-Vari 64
(based on Roland Rhythm 77)
[A][H] Ace Tone model also shipped from Hammond.
[R][H] Hammond shipped far improved model based on Roland's improved model.
  • Ace Tone FR-7L ⇒ Roland Rhythm 77 (1972) ⇒ Hammond Auto-Vari 64 (1974)[Media 16]
[S][H] Hammond models manufactured by Nihon Hammond.
In the 1970s, possibly several models were also distributed under Multivox brand by Sorkin Music, an early general agent of Ace Tone in the United States.[Media 17] On the other hand, late-1970s models such as Multivox FR-3 seem to share several similarities with Korg Minipops.[Note 4]
[M]     Multivox models
[A][M] Also shipped from Multivox
In the mid-1970s, "ACE TONE" brand was taken over by Sakata/Nihon Hammond.[Note 2]
[S]     Sakata/Nihhon Hammond models
[A][S] Also shipped from Sakata/Nihhon Hammond.
In 1972, Kakehashi left Ace Electronics and established Roland Corporation.
Roland Rhythm 77
(based on FR-7L)
[R]     Roland released improved models in 1972:
  • Ace Tone FR-3L ⇒ Roland Rhythm 33 (1972, TR-33)
  • Ace Tone FR-7L ⇒ Roland Rhythm 77 (1972, TR-77)

Amplifiers
An Ace Tone Mighty-5 Amplifier

Guitar Amplifiers
  • Mini Ace (Combo)[7][8]
  • Mini-8 (Combo)[Note 2]
  • Solid Ace-1/SA-1 (Combo)[7][8]
  • Solid Ace-2/SA-2 (Combo)[7][8][11]
  • Solid Ace-3 (Head/Cab), SA-3 (Combo),[3][11] SA-3C (Combo),[7][8] SA-3D[7]
  • Solid Ace-5/SA-5 (Combo)[7][8][11]
  • Solid Ace-6/SA-6 (Head/Cab)[7][8]
  • Solid Ace-7 (Combo)[7]
  • Solid Ace-8/SA-8 (Head/Cab)[3][7][8][11]
  • Solid Ace-9/SA-9 (Head)
  • Solid Ace-10/SA-10 (Head/Cab)[3][7][11]
  • SA-15 (Combo)[8]
  • SA-25 (Combo)[8]
  • SA-45 (Combo)[8]
  • SA-60 (Combo)[8]
  • SA-120 (Head/Cab)[8]
  • SA-150 (Head/Cab)[8]
  • Friend Ace AR-1 (Combo)[8]
  • Gut's Ace
  • GA-5S Cabinet
  • G-15 Guitar Amplifier (Combo)[10] (1977)
  • G-35 (Combo)[10]
  • G-50 (Combo)[10]
  • GH-1 (Preamp + Mixer)[9][10][14] (c. 1976)
  • GH-600/GH-600S (Combo/Powered Cab)[9][10][14] (c. 1976)
  • GH-1200/GH-1200S (Combo/Powered Cab)[10] (c.1976)
  • L35 (Combo)[Note 2]
Tube Amplifiers
  • A-10 Fighter
  • Mighty-5 (Head/Cab) — 50Watt
  • Rockey (Combo) — 15 Watt 1× 12"
  • Elite (Combo) — 4 Watt, 1× 8" (a.k.a. Model A-1R)
  • Duetto (Combo)
  • Model-101 (Combo) — 1× 8"
  • Model-201 (Combo)
  • Model-301 (Combo)
  • Model-601 (Head/Cab) (c. 1968)

Bass Amplifiers

Vocal Amplifiers/Channel Mixer
  • VM-4 Solid State Channel Mixer (4ch Powered Mixer)[3]
  • VM-6 (6ch Powered Mixer)[3]
  • VM-30 (Combo)[3][7][11]
    • SL-30 (Powered Cab for VM-30)[3]
  • VM-45 (Combo)[8]
  • VM-50/VS-50 (Powered Mixer/Cab)[8]
  • Channel Mixer VM-80 Professional/VS-80 (6ch Powered Mixer/Cab)[5][7][8][11]
  • VM-85/VS-85 (Powered Mixer/Cab)[8]
  • VM-150/VS-150 (Powered Mixer/Cab)[7][8]
  • VM-200 (Powered Mixer with Wireless Mic & Cab)[11]
  • Echo Mixer MP-4 (4ch Mixer)[3]
  • MP-40 (4ch Mixer)[8][10]
  • PH-1 (Mixer)[10]
  • PH-2 (Mixer)[10]
  • PH-600S (Powered Cab)[10]
  • PH-1200S (Powered Cab)[10]

Speaker Systems
  • BSP-6 — 2× 12" speakers[11]
  • SP-15 — 1× 15" Gold Bond speaker[11]
  • SP-30 — 2× 15" Gold Bond speakers[11]
  • SP-35 — 2× 15" extra massive speakers[11]
  • SP-45 — 3× 15" Gold Bond speakers[11]
  • SP-10 — 2× 15" + 2× 8" speakers[11]
  • SP-410 — 4× 15" speakers[11]

Other
  • AD-171 Dynamic Microphone[8][10]
  • AE-181 Electret Condencer Microphone[8]
  • AD-191 Dynamic Microphone[10]
  • AD-201 Dynamic Microphone[10]
  • Mic Adapter MP-1 (2ch Mic Preamp)
  • Multi-Vox EX-100 (Wind Instrument Preamp)[3]
  • Psyche Light PL-125[3]
  • Tuning Gun AT-32 (Tuner)[3]

See also

Notes
  1. "Hammond VS-300". The Organ Forum. 2012-12-20. Out of interest, certainly as far as the UK goes, only the very early Cadettes were built by Yamaha. The UK's VS300 was built by Ace Tone, as were all small Hammonds by then. ... You can tell by the cabinet styling and the pedals used. If the cab and pedals look like a B series Yamaha, then that's who made the organ. Otherwise it's an Ace Tone. The plate on the back will either say Yamaha/Nippon Gakki or Nihon Hammond.
  2. Nihon Hammond: In the mid-1970s, Ace Electronic Industries Inc. was restructured and "ACE TONE" brand was taken over by Nihon Hammond, a joint enterprise of Hammond Organ Company in Chicago and Sakata Shokai in Osaka, Japan.
  3. In 1967, FR-1 was introduced as option of Hammond organ.
  4. "MULTIVOX RHYTHM ACE FR-3 - Vintage Rhythm Box 1979 - HD Demo". MatrixSynth. June 3, 2012. This is a quite rare little analog rhythm box from 1979. ... The mechanical hardware looks to me like old Korg Minipops units. Was Korg involved? ;-)
Media
  1. Ace Tone Canary S-2. organ69 (image).
  2. Ace Tone Canary S-3. organ69 (image).
  3. Ace Tone Top-9 Combo Organ. EstEcho (images).
  4. Ace Tone GT-5. Orgel Wiki (image).
  5. Ace Tone GT-7. Orgel Wiki (image).
  6. Ace Tone B 422. VintageSynth.hu (image).
  7. Ace Tone Multistrings SY-5 (image). Audio Playground Synthesizer Museum. Archived from the original on 2008-06-30.
  8. Ace Tone PS1000 Monophonic Synth. EstEcho (images).
  9. Ace Tone 2 VCOs monophonic synthesizer SY-100 (image). Vintage Synth Explorer forum. Archived from the original on 2020-03-30.
  10. Ace Tone EC-20 Echo Chamber. EstEcho (images).
  11. Ace Tone Twin Ace (FW-1). effector.hamazo.tv (images).
  12. Ace Tone Wah Master (WM-1). effector.hamazo.tv (images).
  13. Ace Tone Rhythm Producer FR-15. EstEcho (images).
  14. Caknobs (2011-12-30). [caknobs] RhythmProducer FR-15's instructions (with CMU-810 FaderBoard). YouTube (video). Today's main machine is "ACE TONE RhythmProducer〔FR-15〕". This RhythmBox was born in 1975. This time, I made the system, without sampling FR-15's sound.
  15. Ace Tone Rhythm Fever FR-106. EstEcho (images).
  16. "Dubsounds Hammond Auto-Vari 64 Samples", Vintage Drums, Dubsounds
  17. "Multivox Archive Page". (images). Audio Playground Synthesizer Museum. Archived from the original on May 21, 2003.

References
  1. "Lifetime-Achievement-Award Mr. Ikutaro Kakehashi" Archived April 8, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, Musikmesse International Press Award 2002, 2002, retrieved April 2, 2006
  2. Ikutaro Kakehashi (March 2003). I believe in music. Hal Leonald Corp. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-634-03783-2.
    In 1964, Canary S-2 and R-1 Rhythm Ace were exhibited on Summer NAMM, but finally not released.
  3. acetone 1969
  4. All About Electronic & Electric Musical Instruments. Seibundo ShinkoSha. 1966. ASIN B000JAAXH6, 電子楽器と電気楽器のすべて.
  5. Stachowiak 2012
  6. Combo Organ Heaven 2006
  7. acetone 1972
  8. Ace Tone 1975
  9. acetone 197x
  10. acetone 1978
  11. acetone 1971
  12. "Hammond F 1000/2000/3000 Series", De Hammond Encyclopedia (in Dutch), Hammond Toonwielorgelvereniging Netherland [Hammond Organ Club Holland], retrieved 2013-08-06
  13. Gordon Reid (November 2004). "The History Of Roland Part 1: 1930-1978". Sound on Sound (Nov. 2004). Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-19.
    Precisely, R-1 was not a drum machine, but a hand-operated electronic percussion.
  14. acetone 1976
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