ACE TONE RHYTHM ACE FR-1

Ace Tone Rhythm Ace FR-1 drum machine from the late 60s for sale in good working order.

We love our vintage beat boxes, but we’ve got a particular soft spot for this one as it is the model J.J. Cale used on his debut (and big office favourite) “Naturally” – good article here about early beatboxes, Sly Stone, and J.J. Cale from Wax Poetics.

Ace Tone was started by Ikutaro Kakehashi who went on to found the Roland Corporation. The build quality and attention to detail is generally great – these machines were built to last.

See below for a quick demo we made with various pieces of Ace Tone gear including another FR-1.

Condition is pretty scruffy – we do get good ones from time to time but the reality is that the light grey tolex was not a great design choice and it can pick up a lot of stains over the years as this machine has (we’ve given it a thorough clean – what you see in the photos it what won’t come off. This one has also had the end panels repaired with some metal edges and wood effect laminate and the carry handle is missing. However the front panel and controls are in good condition and everything works as it should.

220v model.