Amp crackle and dirty pots

Sometimes its not worth the money if you never switch hte pots during a set or even at home. Most people find the sweet spot and use the volume control on the guitar. This obviously depends on the amp / guitar / style of music. Beware of amps though. They are not to be messed around with. Seriously lethal voltages lie within. If you have a valve amp the filter caps can store lethal voltages even if the power is off and the plug disconnected with the wall. Also, the job of cleaning the pots is very simple. Simply insert the the straw from the contact cleaner canister into the pot opening and spray while turning the knob. With a guitar you can do this with it plugged in so that you can hear the crackling cease, I would not reccommend this with the amp. Also the job will either be made simpler or trickier depending on whether you r pots are chasis mounted (old fenders for instance) or PCB mounted (Mashall JMC 900 for example). If they are PCB mounted it makes the joba more delicate one. You may have to remove the board entirely to get at the openings. Be very careful around PCB stuff. If you put too much pressure on something it will break naturally, this is expensive to get repaired and thats if anyone is arsed looking at it. If you lift a tread you have a problem on your habds. Point to point wiring is much easier to service but in performance stakes, htere are many world class PCB (printed circut board) designed amps that are very good indeed. People just tend to prefer Point to Point wiring on the whole. Well good luck whgatever you decide. By the way dont listen to some of the "guitar techs" in the shops in town. While some are excellent the others are not so good. DW-40 wont work on the scratchy pots (I was told this!). WD-40 may make it smoother but it is not a conductive fluid. The proper stuff coats each of the dust particals in a conductive fluid and they no longer interfere with the pot's function.