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Woops. The pot is made by Alpha, not ALPS. I've had good experience with this brand, too.

I, too, share the frustration of a faulty design and/or inferior parts. Deoxit didn't work for me. I replaced the volume control, using an ALPS 50,000 ohm audio taper pot from Mouser Electronics. Mouser is a reputable, large, mail order operation owned by Berkshire Hathaway (think Warren Buffett). The stock number is 313-1240F-50K and it cost $3.16. Buy a few extras for spares. ALPS is a well know maker of quality pots. Here's how I repaired mine. This required tools (phillips screwdriver, pliers, soldering iron, solder wick, solder), patience, and parts. 1. Remove the grille and screws. 2. Remove the front panel with the speakers. The wire harness is long enough to set the speakers next to the cabinet. 3. Remove the silicone holding the LED to the front panel. 4. Carefully remove the circuit board assembly, using pliers to pull it straight out. 5. Now the hard part - unsolder the volume control assembly from the board, being very careful to use just enough heat with solder wick on each terminal. Remove the assembly. 6. Remove all solder from the holes. Solder wick was not good enough so I used an Edsyn Soldapullt vacuum device. 7. Test that the pot solder pins fit into the holes before soldering anything. 9. Install a wire jumper (or outboard switch with a wire going out the back vents) where the two switch pins were located, at the back of the pot. 10. Install the pot into the metal holder, put the assembly into the holes, then solder the assembly, pot, and jumper, being carefull to keep the pot shaft positioned so that it will fit through the front hole. I put the knobs on and aligned the pot as best I could. 11. Test the unit, hooking up the power supply, speakers, and input before putting the board back into the case. Hopefully, it works. I've got my fingers crossed that the problem was inferior parts and not faulty design. Otherwise, I'll be back to replacement. Good luck.