may I ask what is the purpose of owning a Strat if you're just going to make it very un-strat like? and to answer your question about the tone knob: literally every professional guitarist you have ever heard uses them. hell if you watch them playing live, you can see them making adjustments even in the middle of songs. to each his own on what you prefer and what switches/knobs you do or don't use. BB King had all of his guitars custom made with a whole extra dial knob that no one else on the planet ever used. don't forget David Gilmour.
it was a little higher than that. Sticker was $830. i got him to knock it down because there is a slight nick in one of the frets. you would literally never notice it unless you're doing a bend somewhere around the 13th or 14th fret (don't remember exactly which one). It felt like the string was sticky in that spot. I've done nothing to it except to play around and do quite a few bends right there. That was enough to smooth the nick out a good bit.
Since you are a collector get a Liger or a Deadbolt from Phred Instruments. They are copies of Jerry Garcia's Tiger and Lightning Bolt guitars. Under $700 unless you start customizing. https://shop.phredinstruments.com/liger
got a couple others higher on my list first. I need a Telecaster and something by Gretsch myself. that’s why i went that route
this is not true, i know professional guitarists that never touch them. some dont even have tone knobs on their guitar.
doing it myself, its just a couple solders. tims guitar in baton rouge does great work though if you need it
true imagine how great hendrix would have been with a les paul. kidding but for reals hendrix is the only guy i can think of that makes that tone work. of course, that selector switch is stupid. only need bridge humbucker.