Can you recommend a good primer text on chemical instrumentation/analytical techniques?

Chemistry: Principles and Reactions by Masterton Hurley (4th edition).  You should be able to get it on ebay/amazon.com for a few bucks (less than $5).  It is an introduciton to chemistry textbook, made for general chem classes, but it is a wonderful manual to use if you just want to look things up for reference.  I am using it in my Master research, and it is wonderful because it includes information about all topics in chemistry, and it also directs you to articles published on the internet if you want to do some more reading.

Edit:  It also gives information about how principles and theories were derived, as well as how it affects the enviroment (i.e. how sulphur reacts with moisture in the air to make sulphuric acid (aka acid rain))