vol knob bad connection/short?

I searched but it's so hard to find relevant threads b/c "volume" and "knob" and "pot" etc are too common here to easily come up with awesome results. sorry if this has been answered umpteen times

ok long story short: bought a refrubished bass. old MIM fender body, all parts neck, rio grande pickups, new electronics. the local guy put it together and had it for sale and i liked it.

practiced at home, no problem. 1st gig: big problem. no sound. after much fiddling I figured out it's the vol pot. as the title says, it has some short or bad connection.

basically there is a little bit of "play" in both the vol & tone pots. you can push them in or pull them out a tiny bit. this does not affect the tone knob at all, but when you push the vol knob IN...no sound. you have to pull it out to get sound.

ok I guess I'm taking it back & having the guy who sold it to me fix it...UNLESS you guys have some quick/easy answer like take the pickguard off & tighten something?

thanks in advance