tl;dr: Probably don't exist.
I've been working on my Yanagisawa testing page and I've gotten around to the 800, 880, 900, and 990 series horns. I looked and found an odd lack of SC-880s in my 880 gallery. I then took a look at a 1980's catalog and didn't see the SC-880 listed, just the SC-800, S-6, S-800, and S-880 (the presence of the S-880 means it's a 1985 or later catalog). Heck, it even lists the extremely rare B-880b low Bb baritone. I'd assume it's a pretty complete catalog, then!
Here's what I wrote on my non-testing website:
Well, let's talk about the 990, then.
One fun problem is that I do not have a 1990s Yanagisawa 900/990-series catalog. I also noticed a distinct lack of SC-990s in my gallery of 990 horns. Well, what about the horns with an underslung neck, like this one? Well, let me Google, "yanagisawa sc-990." No hits. Well, let's fool around some more. Ah. An SOTW post. Ok, Gandalfe, where's your SC-990? Does it have a "990" stamp on it?
When we get to the 901/991 series, there are both SC-901s and SC-991s. The major difference: the 901 has left-hand bell keys. The 991 has right. You can get the underslung neck for the 901, too. But ... the 901's not in the 2007 catalog.
Arrrrrrggggggghhhhhh.
Anyhow, the reason to be interested in whether you have a 800 or an 880 is because the 880 (and probably 990, etc.) were made with "French brass" and their toneholes are slightly shifted to accommodate the additional brass thickness. We could also look at ribbed vs. plate construction, etc. The other bit of amusement is the underslung octave key, which you can see in that 2007 catalog. 901 isn't underslung. These differences = a more expensive horn.
I've been working on my Yanagisawa testing page and I've gotten around to the 800, 880, 900, and 990 series horns. I looked and found an odd lack of SC-880s in my 880 gallery. I then took a look at a 1980's catalog and didn't see the SC-880 listed, just the SC-800, S-6, S-800, and S-880 (the presence of the S-880 means it's a 1985 or later catalog). Heck, it even lists the extremely rare B-880b low Bb baritone. I'd assume it's a pretty complete catalog, then!
Here's what I wrote on my non-testing website:
It seems that the SC-800 and SC-900 just had necks with the underslung octave key available.The absolute easiest way of telling an SC-800 (the SC-800 is the first Yanagisawa curved soprano, so no 6 series to compare against) from an SC-880 is to look at the neck. The SC-880 has an underslung octave key mechanism. The 800 has the traditional over-the-top style. However, I dislike telling people to look just at this feature because necks can be replaced.
Well, let's talk about the 990, then.
One fun problem is that I do not have a 1990s Yanagisawa 900/990-series catalog. I also noticed a distinct lack of SC-990s in my gallery of 990 horns. Well, what about the horns with an underslung neck, like this one? Well, let me Google, "yanagisawa sc-990." No hits. Well, let's fool around some more. Ah. An SOTW post. Ok, Gandalfe, where's your SC-990? Does it have a "990" stamp on it?
When we get to the 901/991 series, there are both SC-901s and SC-991s. The major difference: the 901 has left-hand bell keys. The 991 has right. You can get the underslung neck for the 901, too. But ... the 901's not in the 2007 catalog.
Arrrrrrggggggghhhhhh.
Anyhow, the reason to be interested in whether you have a 800 or an 880 is because the 880 (and probably 990, etc.) were made with "French brass" and their toneholes are slightly shifted to accommodate the additional brass thickness. We could also look at ribbed vs. plate construction, etc. The other bit of amusement is the underslung octave key, which you can see in that 2007 catalog. 901 isn't underslung. These differences = a more expensive horn.