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. The sounds are rich and full of character and many variations are possible by selecting more than one rhythm at the same time.

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

Condition is good but note that it came to us re-tolexed in almost white tolex (the work is OK but it is lifting slightly in places); that tolex is pretty clean though, as is the front panel and the rest of the machine, and everything works as it should. Click on the photos to zoom in and see more detailed shots.

NOTE: WE HAVE SOME FR-1 UNITS IN REALLY EXCELLENT CONDITION BEING SERVICED RIGHT NOW – CONTACT US IF YOU NEED MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THEM.

220v model.