sound cutting out, knobs

[Brainfertilizer]

So the sound cuts out when/if you accidentally bump the tone knob.
Just to be sure, I pulled out the input jack, cleaned off the contacts, and checked the control cavity, and all the wires seem to be solidly attached.

So is it just a bad tone pot?

If I unsolder, pop in a new pot, and then solder up exactly as before, will it solve the problem?

[gittarasaurus]

did you clean the contacts on the tone pot itself?

[Brainfertilizer]

did you clean the contacts on the tone pot itself?

No.
I've heard you do that by spraying compressed air.

I don't have any cans of that. No room to get any, what with all the cans of whoop-ass I've got sitting around here waiting to be opened.

[gittarasaurus]

if you are lucky, compressed air will do it, but more likely you need something to clean dirt or corrosion off the contacts. i use some stuff i got at radio shack. like this:
cleaner
just spray inside the pot where the contacts are, and then spin the knob from end to end a bunch of times, to clean the contact surfaces. it will dry in about a minute or less. then plug it in and check to see if that worked. maybe need to do it a couple times if the pot is really dirty inside. this will fix it most of the time and is much easier than replacing the whole thing.