On one hand, the seller says he was told by the original owner that it was a custom order. On the other hand, this bass was made 6 years before BB was officially offered, as CotY.
So it could be a refin, or a custom order as a tribute to the original Blue Boys gunpowder-blue Rics with their gold-backed guards. Or maybe, who knows, a factory one-off, a test that has led to BB as 2004 CotY.
Either way, awesome IMHO.
The horseshoes are bent upwards, like 60's horseshoes and like recent production RIHS's. In '98 they were flat.