Recently my friend told me to hold on to his bass. It’s a 90s Fender Squire P bass. I felt the obligation to fix it because of my love for the bass. I feel like it’s an abused child. The problem I am having is that it’s very, very messed up. Neck is all bowed, drawn all over, damaged pots, and static feedback type of thing. It’s just messed up. He hasn’t taken any care of it. At the moment, I’m trying to fix his pots. When ever I turn the knobs the pots move, no big deal. The problem is that they have been like that for so long that the washer and nut have become imbedded inside of the knob. The pots seem to be fine, no sever wire damage. No matter how hard I pull, tug or beg the knobs to move they only stay in place. I can’t seem to tear them off of the pot. They have no screw on the side I can loosen to make them easier to take of. So my question for you is this; how do I get the knob off with out damaging the pots and or the knob. If that is at all possible I’d be grateful for advice. Thanks for looking.
Maybe try prying under knob with a small screwdriver and try to loosen it, doesn't look like an extra small scratch or two would bother the owner too much. Maybe paint in there has got it glued together.
Removal of damaged knobs/pots. 
