I love using the Assistants, but I always find the controls getting in the way

Is there a way to move the controls or hide them? I can only usually use about 2 guides before a control is where I want to put a new guide.

As far as I can tell, they're not movable.

With the first control point of a new assistant, the 'creation click', you can put it on the control of another assistant provided you don't touch any of the icons.
For the remaining control points, you can put them anywhere on the control of another assistant.
If you want fine positioning on a grid, you can zoom in to see the grid. It's all fiddly and distracting but it can be done.

Maybe if all controls were removed on the start of a new assistant tool until it had been completed?

Ah that's good to know ahabgreybeard. I saw they disappear when starting to use the brush tool, and then I realized zooming in will let me see past them.
I see the wisdom doing it the way they did, ...uniformity and ease of use maybe on other devices. For this current project it's all about taking my time so I don't mind zooming in and moving them.