Whether it’s hammering wood or hammering out a tune on his guitar, Pulaski High School teenager Ian Vanveen is driven by a fascination with both crafts.
Vanveen, who grew up watching his father play guitar in a band got his first guitar from his dad.
“When I picked it up made me feel like the coolest rock star of all time,” Ian Vanveen said. “Carried it real low, took a basic power cord and it just strummed it, volume all the way up. It was amazing.”
That “amazing” spark propelled the teen to explore the mechanics of music and how electric guitars work. More out of curiosity than anything, he decided to actually build an electric guitar from scratch.
“If I want the perfect guitar, exactly what I want, I might as well just make one,” Vanveen said.
Along the way, he began to improvise and revolutionize the way guitars are made. He customizes the look and feel, placing the switches on the side of the guitar instead of the front.
Vanveen’s interest in the instrument at an early age is forging his future. He has plans to go to college to study electrical engineering so he can dig deeper into the circuitry of guitars.
“I used to measure success in just objects, like money, cars and stuff,” Vanveen said. “But now I just measure success and how content you are with your life. If you have the job that you want. If you have the people that you want, and if you’re happy about it.”
