They were called the Elite line first, and soon changed to Elitist (or maybe I have that backwards).
(Before these MIJ Epis, these lines were called Orville and Orville by Gibson.)Īround the early aughts, Epi briefly imported them to the U.S.A, with a deliberately uglified headstock shape and better pickups and electronics. MIJ Epis were made for the Japan market, with the proper Gibson headstock shape.