This month, we're excited to introduce our new gear repair workshop column. At the helm is Boston's Kevin Micka, who has traveled the US and Europe as Animal Hospital and as part of The Common Cold and who has repaired electronics at Boston's Aztech Electronics for 7 years and recorded bands in the Boston area for the past 10 years.

The initial goal of this column will be to bring us into a better understanding of how our equipment works. With a little time, it should dissolve some of the mystery that surrounds repair work so we can feel more confident in working on and hopefully fixing our own equipment. Like a lot of things, once you become familiar with some of the basics, you might be surprised at what you can fix yourself. I thought it might be best to start off with a basic list of essential tools to get you on your way.

1. Small needle nose pliers with wire cutting feature
2. Soldering Iron and Solder (60/40 formula)
3. Sponge
4. De-Soldering braid/wick or de-soldering pump
5. Wire Stripper
6. Multimeter or Volt/Ohm Meter
7. Small vise, clamp or "Helping Hand"
8. Four-In-One Screwdriver

All of these tools combined should cost you under $60 and can be found at your local hardware store, mega-behemoth everything store or, of course, Radio Shack.
Starting cheap and simple when learning how to use new tools has always worked well for me. Therefore, I would suggest looking at a 25-30 watt soldering iron that plugs directly into the wall. This style of iron will also help keep your new tool kit portable as it can easily fit in a small bag (like a microphone bag) and be carried
around wherever you and your equipment go. You should be able to get one for around $15. A moist sponge will help keep your soldering iron tip clean (more on this later). The de-soldering braid will help remove old and or excessive solder. You'll need a pair of wire strippers to cut back the insulation on wires for repairing or making new connections. A sufficient multimeter will help you check continuity in cables and circuits, read voltages and resistances and more. Although this will be the most expensive of all of these tools, it still shouldn't run you more than $20-$30 dollars. The meter and the vise can be added later as you learn more. Although as you'll see, having a vise around to hold things like broken cables in place while you're working on them can really help keep your aggravation level down to a minimum. There are also helpful stands you can buy (some with a built in sponge!) to hold your soldering iron. More items can and will be added as we progress and we've learned how to use all of the tools here. Soldering techniques, cable repairs cleaning dirty/scratchy controls and basic troubleshooting are topics I plan on covering in the first few months. I kindly invite readers to submit suggestions and ideas for topics as well as any other tips to include in future articles. I would like
to cover a variety of views and or methods that we can all benefit from.
Submit ideas, comments arguments for future articles to: workshop@performermag.com