Electone is the trademark used for electronic organs produced by Yamaha. With the exception of the top end performance models, most Electones are based on the design of the spinet electronic organ. Current models are completely digital and contain a variety of sounds, effects, and accompaniments, on top of the ability to store programming data onto memory devices.
History
After Hammond pioneered the electronic organ in the 1930s, other manufacturers began to market their own versions of the instrument. By the end of the 1950s, familiar brand names of home organs in addition to Hammond included Conn, Kimball, Lowrey, and others, while companies such as Allen and Rodgers manufactured large electronic organs designed for church and other public settings.
The Yamaha Electone firstly made as a prototype concept in 1958, named "E-T". Then, the Yamaha Electone series finally made its debut in 1959 with the D-1, a home instrument. By 1980, with the market waning sharply, and some manufacturers ceasing production, the Electone line embraced digital technology. This allowed Electone's survival as the traditional home electronic organ market dried up. The product name "Electone", coined from the word "Electronic" and "Tone", that later it became so popular throughout the whole country that it was mistaken for the common noun of electronic organs in later years.
By the 1980s, many of the most famous names had ceased home production, but the Electone successfully transitioned to the modern world of digital synthesizers, now competing with such new electronic products as Moog Music, Wersi, and later Kurzweil. Electones were to be found not only in homes, especially in Japan and elsewhere in the East Asia, but also in bands and other solo and group public performances.
Notable former models
Yamaha began exporting Electones to the United States, starting with the D-2B in 1967.