I had a phase when I was a kid (5th - 8th grades ish) when I was interested in rock music. I joined a band near me and played electric guitar for a while. When I think back to that time I'm not sure what drew me to it. I wasn't in it for any rebellion, nor did I really make any close friends while doing it. A puzzler to this day.

What did spawn out of it, was my first ever personal project I built: An electric guitar. I had recently learned how to use basic woodshop tools (think bandsaws,. sanders, etc…) at my local makerspace, and I was searching for a project to actually build. I decided that I was going to build an electric guitar from scratch. It was going to be awesome, a crazy paint job, and great sound. Most of all it would circumvent my mom's edict that I couldn't buy another one. If I just built the guitar, I thought, it wouldn't fall under the "buying" category.

So as any enterprising child does, and with no money of my own to speak of, I convinced my grandpa to invest in my venture. I created a spreadsheet and ordered the parts. It was going to be a quick thing. One summer; in and out. A professional job.

As with so many things in life, I was a tad bit overambitious. It ended up taking a little over two years and the finished product? Well, to call it a "musical instrument" would be a compliment of the highest degree. My electronic connections were so finicky it only played if held in a certain position. I was taught a lesson by the end: don't get in too deep without knowing what you're getting into. Of course, being little, I quickly forgot that lesson and continued getting in over my head.

In 8th grade, I had the opportunity through my engineering class to go one step further and build another guitar—this time with a CNC (computer operated mill). Having built a guitar on my own before, this time I was able to focus on the details I had initially wanted too and built a product I was really proud of. See if you can tell which is which? (spoiler alert: it's not hard at all…)