The number of knot group representations is not a Vassiliev invariant

For a finite group and a knot in the -sphere, let be the number of representations of the knot group into . In answer to a question of D.Altschuler we show that is either constant or not of finite type. Moreover, is constant if and only if is nilpotent. We prove the following, more general boundedness theorem: If a knot invariant is bounded by some function of the braid index, the genus, or the unknotting number, then is either constant or not of finite type.