It's not the knobs it's the pots...
The controls are variable resistors - potentiometers - pots...
Dust gets in them - you can buy a service spray from hobby electronic stores which often cleans them up - expose the pots and squirt just a small amount of lubricant inside and rotate them back and forward several times. If it doesn't work then it's a relatively simple and cheap matter to buy new pots and get them changed by somebody who can use a soldering iron.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Servisol-Switch-Contact-Cleaning-Lubricant/dp/B000KHE1D0
Good luck...
Peccavi
September 2009