epi minis

[eor]

poking around ebay today, i came across an ad for an elitist riviera. the guy had new minis installed into it, so he included a pic of the old ones, as seen below:

 

 

mine never looked like that. in fact, my minis look like so:

 

 

no epi usa sticker, just the patent number, just like the gibson version. is this common, or was mine not as new as i thought it was when i bought it? tee hee? coincidentally(?), the pickups are the only part i haven't swapped out (yet). soon. though i do like them a lot. i suppose i should ask the age old, "what's the difference between the two?", if anyone should happen to know.

 

strangely, i've seen some pictures of the gibson minis without the pat # as well. not sure how to interpret this at all. what have i been playing all this time? have i been living a lie? did i get $300 worth of pickups installed for free and no one ever knew?

 

for what its worth, all my other elitists have had the epi usa stickered pickups on them, and i've never seen otherwise on a stock model.

[sdgails]

Due, those are gibson les paul deluxe mini's. You scored.

[eor]

seems that way, no? not vintage deluxe minis but possibly the current ones. sure look just like them, anyway, but i've never played them so i can't compare.

 

i never really thought much of the lack of a sticker because:

 

-there weren't any pics available of the underside of epi usa minis until now

-there isn't much consensus/fact as to what epi usa pickups really are, anyway, including the famous "rebranded gibsons" rumor

-all the wires were run through the clips on the underside of the top, just like stock

-they sounded pretty damn good, but epi usas are also better than the average pickup

 

just to be on the safe side, maybe everyone should pop theirs out and see what's going on under them. maybe certain years got certain pickups, or they ran out of pickups or stickers, or reused bottom plates or just stopped caring? who knows?