Back in the day, I blew shit up, plugged things in wrong, paid local “techs” to repair stuff that they didn’t even repair. You learn fast if you love it.
I’m still learning, but! I largely fix all my own stuff now and can diagnose or figure out why something isn’t working. It takes a long time to know all the x’s and o’s, and experience, it’s not an overnight kind of thing.
There’s nothing more satisfying than when you figure it out and get it working.
I brought a trashed Silverball mania back from the dead by repairing the MPU. That felt great.
New sterns make me nervous because what if it breaks? I keep playing them anyways. Not much you can do hands on if one does break, it’s all in the design now.