Can a vintage pot's bad taper be repaired?

[GoldtopDeluxe72]

I was sent to look for Roman in the Luthier's Corner, hope this is it.

My '72 LP Deluxe has a bad volume taper for both pickups. The pots measure 400k. I had 300k pots put in because thats all I could find without going overboard, and the sweet tone got cloudy :/

Other than going to 500k pots, which I'm afraid will be too bright for these mini humbuckers, can the taper issue be fixed?

0-5 had no volume at all on the bridge, and 10-9 would drop dramatically on the neck.
If its a choice between the two, I'd rather have the originals back in and deal with the taper issue because they sounded so great. I was told other than correcting the scratchy factor, it can't be helped. Is this true?

Any input would be great.

 

[MATTM]

I was told other than correcting the scratchy factor, it can't be helped. Is this true?

I already answered this in the Luthiers Section, but to answer it again here, that is correct. You can't fix the taper. You may not even be able to correct the scratchiness.

 

[DPaulCustom]

You would do well to get the 500k pots.
If it's too bright, you can always roll the pot back some.
Cts 550k pots are popular, cause they're guarenteed to be at least 500k.
How do you have your guitar wired? From your description, it sounds like modern, where you roll the volume back, & loose the highs.
50s wiring takes care of this, keeping the highs as you roll the vol back
Check the wiring library in the top area of this section.
As far as "fixing" your pots, some de-oxit, & working the knob back & forth repeatedly, will take care of the scratchy.
If these are the original pots from 72, they might have a lot of buildup, which "could be your problem.
Try the de-oxit a few times, & see if they improve, just keep in mind, 1 cts 550k pot isn't much more than a can of de-oxit, if not around the same price.
Keep us posted

 

[GoldtopDeluxe72]

Thanks. They are the original pots from '72. Will do.