X-rated Bob wrote:
Richard Thompson played for some years with a knob missing from what would usually be the volume pot on his strat. The shaft was still visible though, he just didn't have the knob.
This was on his '59 Strat which was his workhorse guitar from about 1972 to about 1991. Often it was the only electric guitar he had on the road with him. The knob seems to have disappeared in 1982 (judging by photos) and stayed off until the guitar was retired. He never had any other guitar with this arrangement (and he's played several strats since) and when the '59 was restored last year the published shots (by his guitar tech) revealed a full complement of knobs. So I have no idea WHY he did it or if it was something that just happened and he lived with it.
Just found the brief report from the restorer (Bobby Eichorn).
Because the volume pot knob they replaced in the 70's is a solid shaft it is hard to get a stock knob to fit. I found a tone knob that almost matches the old knobs and used that. ... I had to re solder the pickup/bridge ground wiring as well as the volume pot to switch wiring as the volume was acting like a tone control instead on a volume.
So it sounds like the guitar was substantially butchered at some point and that the volume control certainly wasn't worth using as a volume control. Amazing that he played it so long in that condition (and that other guitar techs didn't sort it out).
