The pot is a B50k and I'm wise enough to know that I ain't going anywhere near a soldering iron. I've destroyed more expensive kit than this in the past waving a stick of hot metal around.
Boguing, I did what you suggest and so far so good.
My trouble is that I have set up this system such that there is a speaker in each corner of the room with the wiring running around the top of the picture rails and chased in to the wall, so it is immovable.
New systems tend to have the controls fixed in to one of the speakers such that I would have to stretch up to the ceiling to turn the things on and off or get into some heavy splicing/re-wiring to make the thing work. A non starter for me.