Centralab pot fluctuating when adjusted?

[Seanizle]

I had posted another thread in here recently detailing the tonal changes I observed after installing two Centralab pots; I am posting this new thread to diagnose a problem I have ran into after playing with the volume pot some more. To briefly reiterate the changes, I first installed a 1958 Centralab in the tone position of the bridge with a new Lux Bee; I had left the RS volume pot in to observe any changes. The cap did sound a bit different when rolled off (compared to the RS PIO cap), and there was a slight change in the response of the tone pot but was nothing major. The major tonal change happened when I installed the 1962 Centralab in the volume position, the bass was thinned slightly and the highs were sweeter without the harshness they had before; the sound was punchier and less aggressive. Now the problem......

I've sunk about 10-15 hours of play time into these pots, and last night I noticed while adjusting the volume pot sometimes when it went to 10 there would be more of a bite to the highs. Then I would roll the pot back and forth between 10 and 0 and it would return to the sweet mellowed highs it had before. What exactly is going on here, has anyone else had this happen to them? The caps are new, but even with the tone pot on 10 this still happens, so I'm thinking its an issue with the volume pot? The solder joints are very solid, and I can confirm each time the pot is clicking all the way on, so its not a matter of me playing at 9 then accidentally rolling into 10.

 

[ARandall]

Its an old pot. They become unreliable.

 

[Nick-O]

Just read a great thread on another site about taking the old pots apart and "cleaning/scraping" the track. It is possible and the results were impressive.

 

[spitfire]

While cleaning always has the potential to cure a problem pot. It is also possible it is just worn out. The resistive element is a thin layer of material that the center wiper runs back and forth across. It can eventually wear. As far as I know, that cannot be fixed.