With the advanced level of electronics that are found in today's digital electronic Music gear, we have a tendency to think that if it is not a mechanical issue then the repair is a simple board swap. However, to truly excel in the field of high tech electronic repair, whether it be computers, digital audio workstations, digital pianos or your latest flat screen TV, a strong understanding of basic electronic theory is requisite. That knowledge seperates the average bench techs from the master technicians. Nothing can substitute for that foundation.

While preparing to teach an evening adult school course in basic electronics as the entry course toward an A+ computer technician certificate, I scoured the bookstores for a good basic theory book to use for a text book. There were many ho-hum offerings and none of them really stood out. I was beginning to become discouraged when I stopped into a Borders book store in a major southern California mall and found a book that caught my attention. The book is Practical Electronics for Inventors by Paul Scherz. I have always fancied myself a bit of an inventor so the title was a hook to catch my interest as well as the attractive cover graphics. Upon opening the book I discovered that the contents did not betray the catchy title and beautiful cover graphics.

Fourteen well organized chapters present the foundations and theories of electronics in a thoughtful and clearly presented manner. Proceeding in a logical progression all of the theorems, formulas, physics, and devices necessary to turn you into a troubleshooting guru. The final chapter covers practical topics such as safety, construction, making prototypes, using test equipment, recommended parts stocks and building your own workbench. Five very useful appendices cover electrical power distribution (including international standards), useful mathematical formulas, error analysis, component data for the most commonly used devices, and microcontroller circuits.

I have found this book to be not only a great textbook for those just starting out in the field of electronics but also a wonderful reference book for those of us who feel like a guru on the subject but need a quick reference for all the formulas, configurations, and device data that we don't keep in the ready reference portion of our minds. And heck, it also inspired the me venture back into the inventor realm.

I got my copy at a fire sale price from a book club that I was a member of when they shut down and blew out there inventory at deep discounts. You can get a reasonably priced copy from Amazon and I heartily recommend it to all of you.