Ace Electronic Industries Inc. began manufacturing amplifiers in 1963. Ace Tone wasfounded in 1960 by Ikutaro Kakehashi . Ace Tone later became the Roland Corporation.

The Rhythm Ace FR-1 Analog Drum Machine can therefore be considered Roland's very firstdrum machine and was the world’s first transistorised drum machine. The AceTone FR-1 "Rhythm Ace" was produced circa 1967 and was adopted by the Hammond Organ Company.  

The Rhythm Ace FR-1 is a preset rhythm-pattern generator using  a diode matrix circuit.This Diode Matrix used a pulse generator & frequency dividing counter. Theoutputs were connected to a matrix of diodes which were arranged in AND and ORconfigurations. The matrix output drives the various drum voices.

The diode matrix enabled the drum machine to have 16 preset patterns. You can cascade & mixthese up by pressing two buttons simultaneously. The possible combination of rhythm patterns were more than a hundred. Also, the four round white buttons enable you to mute the cymbal, claves, cowbell and bass-drum sounds. You cancontrol tempo and it comes with an on/off foot switch, that can also be used with other audio equipment requiring a mono jack on/off switch.  These canalso be retro fitted with midi.

In the USA, the FR-1 was sold under the "Multivox" brand. In the UK, it was marketed as the "Bentley Rhythm Ace".