[HOTWIRE]

Steve. That hole you refer on yours to looks a bit suspicious to me. See the staining on it. I wonder was there a block there at one time. By any chance did you take any photos of it before you worked on it although I cant imagine you somehow lost a block along the way. Maybe. Just maybe the famous ghost repair person was at it back when. That black wire running from the tone control to ground next to the audio transformer looks a bit suspicious too.

Thing is though yours is clearly stamped as a 97 and no block is shown in that position. on the service sheet. Can you have a close up look at that hole stain.