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, Ace Tone can be considered an early incarnation of the Roland Corporation, which was also founded by Kakehashi. Ace Tone began manufacturing amplifiers in 1963.

History

Ikutaro Kakehashi began learning practical mechanical engineering as a teenager, and found there was a demand for electronics repair in Japan following the end of World War II. After recovering from tuberculosis in 1954, he opened a goods store in Osaka and began assembling and repairing radios. He attempted to build an electric organ in the late 1950s from spares, including parts of an old reed organ, telephones and electronic components, and started a business in 1960, initially making amplifiers. He subsequently designed an organ that was sold by Matsushita.
In 1964, Kakehashi designed his first hand playing electronic drum, the R1 Rhythm Ace, constructed from transistor circuitry. It was designed to be attached below the manuals on a home organ, and had six buttons that created a variety of percussion sounds. It was presented at that year's NAMM Show. However, it lacked automatic accompaniment and so was unsuccessful.
In 1965, Ace Tone established a US distribution agreement with Sorkin. In 1967, the company introduced the Rhythm Ace FR-1, which allowed a variety of automatically played popular rhythms with a variable tempo. It was commercially successful and led to partnership with the Hammond Organ Company, who added Ace Tone's rhythm units to its range of instruments. At the end of the 1960s, Ace Tone began manufacturing guitar effects boxes, such as fuzz which was modelled on an earlier Gibson model.

Products

Electronic Keyboards

Clavioline

  • Canary S-2 — Vacuum tube clavioline, exhibited on 1964 Summer NAMM, but not released.
  • Canary S-3 — Transistor clavioline

    Combo Organ

  • TOP-1
  • TOP-3
  • TOP-4
  • TOP-5
  • TOP-6
  • TOP-7
  • TOP-8
  • TOP-9
  • GT-2 — predecessor of Hammond X-2 and possibly Hammond B-100W
  • GT-5 — predecessor of Ace Tone X-3/X-3W and possibly Hammond B-250W
  • GT-7 — predecessor of Hammond X-5 and Hammond B-200.
  • X-3/X-3W — although model name evokes Hammond X series, it was shipped under Ace Tone brand.
;combo organ accessories
  • OR-30 Transistorized Bench Amplifier
  • PK-2 Organ Bass Pedals
  • Expander/Expression Pedal EXP-4
  • HP-10 Headphone
  • HP-20 Headphone

    Home Organ

  • TO-S1
  • A-122
  • B-422
  • B-5
  • C-422S
  • Ace 1000 / 2000 / 3000 — designed based on Hammond Cadette series. Ace 3000 has built-in cassette recorder on the lower right.

    Organs (OEM)

  • National SX-601
  • Hammond VS-300 Cadette — although early Cadettes were built in Japan by Yamaha/Nippon Gakki, later models in the United Kingdom were built by Ace Tone/Nihon Hammond.
  • Hammond F 1000 / 2000 / 3000 — these models were built in England during the 1970s, were variations of Ace 1000 / 2000 / 3000 designed & built in Japan, based on Hammond Cadette series.

    Electronic Piano

  • AP-100 Electronic Piano

    Synthesizers

  • Multistrings SY-5
  • PS-1000 Monosynth — similar to Roland SH-3/SH-3A
  • SY-100 Monosynth

    Effects

  • Analog Delay EH-50
  • Analog Delay EH-100
  • Echo Chamber EC-1
  • Reverb/Echo Chamber EC-10 Professional Echo
  • Echo Chamber EC-20
  • FUZZ/BOOSTER
  • Fuzz Master FM-1
  • Fuzz Master FM-2
  • Fuzz Master FM-3
  • Graphic Equalizer QH-100
  • Stereo Phasor LH-100
  • Twin Ace FW-1
  • Wah Master WM-1

    Drum Machines

  • R1 Rhythm Ace
  • Rhythm Ace R-3
  • Rhythm Ace FR-1
  • Rhythm Ace FR-2L
  • Auto Rhythm FR-2D
  • Rhythm Ace FR-3 ,
  • Rhythm Ace FR-3S
  • Rhythm Ace FR-4
  • Rhythm Ace FR-6/FR-6P
  • Rhythm Ace FR-6M
  • Rhythm Ace FR-7M
  • Rhythm Producer FR-7L
  • Rhythm Producer FR-8L
  • Rhythm Ace FR-13
  • Rhythm Producer FR-15 — partly programmable rhythm machine
  • Rhythm Ace FR-20
  • Rhythm Ace FR-30
  • Rhythm Ace FR-60
  • Rhythm Ace FR-70
  • Rhythm FEVER FR-106
  • Hammond Auto-Vari 64
Note: Rhythm Ace series were known to be shipped under multiple brands as follows:

Amplifiers

Guitar Amplifiers

  • Mini Ace
  • Mini-8
  • Solid Ace-1/SA-1
  • Solid Ace-2/SA-2
  • Solid Ace-3, SA-3, SA-3C, SA-3D
  • Solid Ace-5/SA-5
  • Solid Ace-6/SA-6
  • Solid Ace-7
  • Solid Ace-8/SA-8
  • Solid Ace-9/SA-9
  • Solid Ace-10/SA-10
  • SA-15
  • SA-25
  • SA-45
  • SA-60
  • SA-120
  • SA-150
  • Friend Ace AR-1
  • Gut's Ace
  • GA-5S Cabinet
  • G-15 Guitar Amplifier
  • G-35
  • G-50
  • GH-1
  • GH-600/GH-600S
  • GH-1200/GH-1200S
  • L35
    Tube Amplifiers
  • A-10 Fighter
  • Mighty-5 — 50Watt
  • Rockey — 15 Watt 1× 12"
  • Elite — 4 Watt, 1× 8"
  • Duetto
  • Model-101 — 1× 8"
  • Model-201
  • Model-301
  • Model-601

    Bass Amplifiers

  • Bass-3/B-3 — Solid State
  • Bass-6/B-6 — Solid State
  • B-7
  • Bass-9/B-9
  • B-50
  • BH-1
  • BH-600S
  • BH-1200S

    Vocal Amplifiers/Channel Mixer

  • VM-4 Solid State Channel Mixer
  • VM-6
  • VM-30
  • *SL-30
  • VM-45
  • VM-50/VS-50
  • Channel Mixer VM-80 Professional/VS-80
  • VM-85/VS-85
  • VM-150/VS-150
  • VM-200
  • Echo Mixer MP-4
  • MP-40
  • PH-1
  • PH-2
  • PH-600S
  • PH-1200S

    Speaker Systems

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

    Other

  • AD-171 Dynamic Microphone
  • AE-181 Electret Condencer Microphone
  • AD-191 Dynamic Microphone
  • AD-201 Dynamic Microphone
  • Mic Adapter MP-1
  • Multi-Vox EX-100
  • Psyche Light PL-125
  • Tuning Gun AT-32