Vintage 1985 Larrivee Scorpion Shark Neck Through Body Custom Graphic Electric Guitar

My name is Sean Mara and I worked at Larrivee Guitars (North Vancouver) 1984-85 as the designer/marketer of the 2nd series of electric guitars. Acoustic sales had tanked and wild electrics were the rage. The first series were strat bolt ons and were not selling well or being ordered so Larrivee asked my mentor Attila Balogh (Odyssey) for an introduction as I was ripping it up in town making Jackson type custom design neck thru bodys called Scorpion (my astro sign). I was flattered to go from my small custom shop to the big boy factory. Jean gave me carte blanche and I designed the line and proceeded to market them at NAMM Chicago and Frankfurt. Being a brash mid-20's I thought I was all that and Jean thought I was trying to take over so we parted ways, not nicely. The Scorpion line was deleted and Jean carried one very nicely without me.One of life's regrets, for sure. You've never heard of me but Jean is a deserving world class icon.

This guitar is the 12th electric ever made by Larrivee and the graphic is significant. The "Shark". If you look at it, my inspiration was part Les Paul, part Flying V, part 80's metal aesthetics. The graphic was done by Chris who was Jean's lead hand as well as burgeoning graphic painter. It is the UPC scan code for Guitar Player magazine. The concept was to give it away through GP mag. Not sure if that happened but it was acquired by someone at Richards Rare Guitars. A decade or 2 later I get a call saying "you should have this". As its a piece of my history, I bought it. Years later, as guitarist have to do, I sold it for...money. Fast forward another decade and it shows up in my life again and I bought back my history. The thing is, I never play it as I've built hundreds of guitars since then, theoretically each better, and have others I value more. There is an updated version of the Shark ( now called the Attilazaster) The last two pictures are one I made in 2013. I wanted a smooth headstock and a thick sculptured body.

I'm over the history aspect. I believe it should go to someone who seriously digs Larrivee's, has a good collection and this is certainly part of that history. The 1985 brochure (designed by Larrivee with verbiage by me) will also be included.

As for the guitar: One piece hard eastern maple neck though alder body wings. Dark slab ebony fretboard with original german 24% nickel silver frets.Factory Schaller bridge. Pegs changed by someone else (I just noticed those ugly screws so will change them to proper black phillips ones before shipping), pickups are a Tonerider Octane humbucker and some sort of dual rail humbucking single coil. It sings through good loud amps. The neck is super thin, like really thin. Melts in your hand, not in your brain. Plays like an electric rocketship. Weighs under 6 pounds. Will ship in a hardshell case. I've priced it a whimsical $1985 ( its birth year). My sole reason for selling is to have it in a Larrivee collection. So I will entertain all offers, all I ask is you explain your rationale and/or Larrivee collection. Im open to trades for things I can use and like such as guitar parts, projects, even pedals ( no boutique $$$). Trades are cool on Reverb as long as they get their fee's, which I pay. If making a trade offer, I wont go back and forth; please just say what you have to trade. I will respond. Will ship worldwide (well, almost). Shipping is sssooo expensive, especially outside of North America. I promise that if I can find a more cost effective rate or if by some miracle the shipping I pay is less than you paid, I'll immediately refund the difference through Reverb. The listing is sold "as described" solely to avoid test pilots and/or the very real cost of me paying to ship only to repay return shipping again. I do stand behind my description.

Thanks.