as for the switch tip,It is original to the bass.Why it was off and in the case i will never know.
Where is the horseshoe?
I've seen Rics with varying degrees of glueburst. There is no definite answer to what causes it - here's the latest controversy between Paul Wilczynski and Dale Fortune: http://www.rickresource.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=398761