Acetone Top-5

quite easy - you plug in, turn on, press the rocker tabs of your liking, adjust a few knobs to taste and there you have it.

i really like the sound.

im hard pressed to complain really - i bought this full well knowing it had a total of 5 bloody sounds in it (flute, organ, horn, oboe, and strings)... and all of them are good.

but let me tell you the vibrato truly is amazing! i generally could give a crap about vibrato save the 4 of 5 seconds of it in the first in-a-gadda-da-vida solo, but this thing is very lush and full and versatile.

with the depth cranked and the speed low, it has a crazy-cool weirdo quality to it, like a Leslie thats been huffing paint fumes or something.

well... heres the thing.

i used to have a Californian Vox Continental (the one, the only) and comparing this organ to a Vox is pretty unfair, being that this lacks drawbars for brightness and individual footages (they all sound roughly like 8' to me).

with this little number, what you hear is what you get, and youd better be happy with how it sounds because it cant be changed.

thankfully, i LOVE the way it sounds, so this isnt a problem. it has a Vox-like quality, while having a personality and fire all it's own.

flute + oboe + strings gets VERY close to the light my fire/21st century fox sound... my favorite!

i would recommend this organ to just about any Vox or Farfisa fan.

i must say the build quality seems superb - someone on another site referred to the Top 5 metaphorically as the "Toyota of the Combo Organ world," and i couldnt agree more. everything is solidly tied and built, and all the circuitry appears to be withstanding the years solidly with no problems whatsoever.

more than i can say for the Vox, which would pretty much have some kind of new electrical problem every time i took it somewhere, or looked at it the wrong way.

i read that this was the company that more or less became roland... cool!

this organ will be like your quirky best friend - it has it's issues, but it's unique and expressive, and it's always there for you!

if i could add anything, it would be a low (16') footage, and some kind of really smokin' harsh (but controllable) high footage like the Vox's "IV" drawbar.

the only thing i dislike is that, like it or not, its gettin' to be an old bird and must be treated respectfully & gingerly. but thats not any error in design, just common courtesy for any vintage instrument!

Just plug into an outlet and into an amplifier of some sort and you're good to go. Very transportable, although a bit heavy. Mine didn't come with a manual, but I don't really see one being needed. You can just choose the "different" sounds and play.

It's pretty limited, the vibrato is amazing, though. Many of the sounds are pretty close to being identical, although some distinction can be made in tone. It's what one would expect from a 60's suitcase organ.

The instruments aren't really very real to what they claim to be, although with some imagination they're pretty close. It has all it needs to get the job done. I personally like the way it sounds and was expecting those sounds from it.

I can depend on it for the most part. It's a very old instrument, so I would more than likely use a backup, but I'd feel moderately comfortable using it for a gig. The only problem I've had with it is when I got it the wiring was bad causing two notes to not play. But it's an easy fix.

Easy repairs, I don't think Acetone is even around anymore.

I love it. I've brought it to parties and play it in my car and the whole party just goes outside to the car. It's a wonderful instrument that really has a special vibe to it being so old. I would be really upset if it was stolen or anything.

This was my organ in high school and college. Very easy to use; just plug in and turn on and you're there! Presets are nice, and the panel was very simple and self-explanatory.

Keyboard action was smooth and responsive. Better than a Farfisa Compact or Vox which had very stiff and unresponsive keys in my opinion.)
Flams (quick sweeps down the keyboard a la Emerson) were very easy on my hands. Keyboard responsiveness not up there with a Hammond (the best) but not bad.

Very limited tonal palette, but, you could simulate a wah wah pedal pretty easily, and the on/off switch could simulate the Emerson Banshee effect very well. The best vibrato I ever encountered. I once played it through a real wah wah pedal and it generated as sharp a sound as Hendrix' guitar. Pretty amazing... With a good amplifier with reverb (which I usually had to borrow), it sounded incredibly clean and powerful, like Mike Ratledge's organ on the first Soft Machine album, or like Jerry Harrison's Professional Farfisa.

I did not spend very much on it and abused it pretty badly (I destroyed one of its legs) but damn, this thing could take all sorts of punishment--an amazingly durable instrument.

No idea. I never even had it serviced.

The best workhorse of the combos. I played a Vox once and was astonished at how thin it sounded next to the ACE TONE. This was the most underated combo organ ever made. I wish I still had it--it was capable of some monstrous sounds.

Um, it's a pretty basic organ... plug it in and go. No presets, patches, or the like. It does have tabs for sounds and vibrato, as well as knobs for volume, vibrato amount and vibrato depth.

No real features... the range of sounds it can produce is very similar to that of a Farfisa, Vox or Gibson organ from the late 60s.

First off, I need to admit my bias for combo organs. I really like the way they sound! Although the sounds bear no resemblance to the instruments named they still sounds good. In my opinion, you can't compare anything to these old organs. The vibrato on this is particularly versatile and rich, like a Wurlitzer 200A almost.

It's at least 25 years old and has had no problems on my watch. I would consider that to be reliable. I use it without a backup live, because even if I had another organ, I couldn't carry it to the show...

I've heard Ace Tone was the precursor to Roland. This organ was made in Japan, which supports this theory... I've never contacted them about it, seems like they wouldn't know what to with it anyway! I've had repairs done by Expert Audio Repair in New York City- they're organ masters!

I love this organ. I've had two Farfisa Compacts and this just blows them away. It produces a much smoother, less nasal or cheesy sound, almost like a Thomas organ. Very retro cool! It's lighter, too, which matters if you intend to ever play it live.

Pretty easy. 6 switchs, and 3 knobs.

Its a cherry red 4 octave keyboard, with tabs for flute, organ, horn, oboe,and strings(by name only). A vibrato on-off tab, with knobs for depth, and speed. Also volume

It pretty much has one sound. Sort of like a Vox vs a Nintendo. The tabs modify the tone with different levels of filter, but I'm impressed by the vibrato. It's smooth and deep. Quite nice for such a small cheap combo. Almost out of place.

I'd be a little nervous to take this to a show. The input jack is acting up, and the previous owner(s) was a bit abusive. It's easy to tune though. I've only had to do it once.

uhmmm...no.

This was my first authentic organ (as apposed to digital simulation) and I quite like it in the way one likes their blind gimpy 9 year old cat. It is what it is, and as long as you don't expect anything more from it, than you'll both be happy. I'd buy it again for $150 Canadian, but since I got my Farfisa, I dont really need it. But it sure is cute!