Ok, you just christened it. "Mouldy Goldy". LOL, perfect name!
I didn't want to hide the fact that this is an Epi (scarfed neck and all), rather I wanted to promote the fact what a sound basis it is for Cinderella treatment. Plus I don't want this to ever crop up on ebay with someone claiming that it was anything other than a pimped Epi.
Gibson should have done something like this long ago, an upmarket Explorer bass within the traditions of the company (i.e. maho or korina, not alder or maple, and with not an ugly P bass style split coil in sight). That would have never been a big seller given the Explorer bass' radical shape (and the price tag the thing would have probably come with), but it would have found its devotees and quite a few name players. I think quite a few Iceman, Hamer and Dean players wouldn't have minded the real thing in their hands and an endorsement from Def Lep's Rick Savage couldn't have hurt sales either.