Up for sale, a 1979 Kasuga Scorpion SC-900 in excellent, 100% original condition and in perfect working order. The Kasuga factory in Japan was best known as a producer of Yamaha, Burny/Fernandes, and early ESP Navigator models throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s. Yet this model was released as part of Kasuga’s own brand, under the Scorpion line, clearly taking its design cues from Alembic. The SC-900 features seven-ply maple/walnut neck through construction with sen ash body wings, offering plenty of sustain, punch and articulation.

The original pair of Maxon-made humbuckers have double cream bobbins and screw poles, metering at just over 8k ohms. These pickups offer tight lows, a broad midrange, and pristine singing highs, taking gain notably well, staying articulate and delivering crunchy, chunky chords and white-hot leads. A three-way mini toggle offers both phase reversal and a coil tap for the bridge pickup. This SC-900 weighs 8lbs 6oz, professionally setup here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with 10-46 strings, low action and spot-on intonation.

The seven-ply maple/walnut neck has a medium C-shaped profile carve with lightly rolled fretboard edges and well-rounded shoulders, measuring .820” deep at the 1st fret and .910” at the 12th. The thick slab rosewood fretboard is a notably dark cut with a 12” radius and flawless medium jumbo fretwire. This guitar plays cleanly up the 24 3/4” scale with a straight neck and a responsive, optimally-adjusted truss rod. The stock bone nut measures 1 11/16” in width. The headstock has genuine USA-made nickel-plated Grover Rotomatic tuning machines with metal tulip buttons, and these tuners turn very smoothly and hold accurate pitch.

All of the electronics work as intended, with the humbuckers wired to the stock harness with full-size pots and untouched solder joints. Controls include a three-way pickup selector switch, dedicated Volume knobs for each humbucker, a Master Tone knob and a three-way coil tap/phase mini toggle for the bridge pickup. Hardware includes the harmonica bridge and stopbar, both with clean chrome plating. Plastics comprise the trio of original amber bonnet knobs and white switch tip. Cosmetic wear on the Natural finish includes a number of small dings on the body as a whole, primarily concentrated on the back and along the lower bout edge. The pristine satin finish on the neck profile is immaculate.

An oxblood faux leather gigbag is included.