He had a soon to be 19 year old combo that's been sitting in the
closet for almost 8 years. No harm in tinkering with the laser pot.

The OP said 1998, not 1988...


I have no problem with a slight adjustment to get it going if cleaning
fails. In my experience the laser diode has a range if operating current
within which it's OK. Every cd player laser circuit has an APC circuit to
maintain diode current. As the laser weakens, the circuit juices it up some
anyway.
The OP's solution isn't perfect, to be sure - but the only alternative is to
replace the laser, which actually is a LOT more disassembly to remove the
whole CD unit, remove the main CD board for access, remove the CD
subchassis, replace the pickup, re-assembly, etc. The cost of a KSS pickup
isn't too bad from some suppliers, but from Aiwa or Sony could be
cost-prohibitive. so the OP would need to hunt down a generic
distributor.... The list of caveats for the OP gets longer and longer the
more I consider the issue.
Considering the class of the Aiwa in question, I say just tweak the pot a
bit and run her 'til she dies, which could easily be a couple more years.

Mark Z.