I was in the same position as you were, with less of a technical background. I have been huge into the hobby for 16 months now, and made the leap about 5 weeks ago to purchase my first machine, which was a NIB Star Wars Pro. I am someone who is not particularly skilled at repairing things, and although I had been saving for a JJPOTC, I settled on buying one of the least populated games in terms of mechs in SW Pro. I thought it would be a good test to see how comfortable I would be making some repairs.
In the 5 weeks, I called a tech on the first day because the flipper assemblies were both not working out of box, primarily due to an issue with the overtightening of the leaf switches at the factory and the switches were pitted. I have been comfortable taking off the glass and lifting the playfield and have done so at least a dozen times primarily to look at the assemblies underneath of out of curiousity and to make some minor adjustments to the game. I just cleaned and waxed the playfield on Sunday, and am loving life having a game in my home.
I am sure there is at least one tech in your area, and I recommend that you confirm that just in case something goes awry that is out of your comfort zone, particularly on a game like Pirates. It’s an addictive hobby though and I am already scouring ads daily for game #2.