The Califone guitars were made for Rheem Califone ( the record player people ) in Los Angeles to complement their range of school PA equipment. In mid 1966 Murphy Music was approached by Califone ( also located in San Fernando ) to build a range of guitars & amps ( this is how the amp side of the business got started ) that they could market to schools to compliment the audio stuff they were providing to the education department – a potential BIG money spinner for MURPH! ….BUT, as seemed to happen a lot with them, the luck of the Irish WASN’T with Pat Murphy with this venture either – Califone had a change of heart and called off the deal after 25 or so prototypes were made. They were made up of 6 strings, basses & 12 string guitars. Most were basic Squires as shown below with a changed nameplate but they did do some with ‘slanted’ pickups and different Gumby-like headstocks. ( the 12 string is owned by Tom Carmody – New York )
