Ben's Custom Built Guitars

A few photos of Ben's beautiful handmade bass guitars

2010  Third bass guitar
Ben finished building this guitar just before camp.
It's an alder body with a maple neck and ebony fretboard.

2009  Second bass guitar
Playing music at camp with friends

2009  Second bass guitar
Bubinga and alder body with a rosewood fretboard

2009  Second bass guitar, side view

2009  Second bass guitar
Back view of the electronics and
neck-through design using a laminate construction 
of maple, walnut, and cherry

2009  Second bass guitar, back view
Look at the straight precision of this beautiful neck-through design. 

2008 First bass guitar
Mahogany body with a bolt-on maple neck
and a Macassar ebony fretboard

 

As Summer Turns to Autumn

Rudbeckia

 Perennial sunflowers

Mammoth sunflower next to perennial sunflowers

A new evergreen blueberry: "Bountiful Blue"

The first of the ripening pumpkins

Bean Harvest!

8 lbs 4 oz of green, yellow, purple, and speckled beans
all harvested in one day!

Not Back To School Camp 2010

This is Ben's fourth year enjoying Grace Llewellyn's Not Back To School Camp for unschooling teens at Camp Myrtlewood in Oregon.  He loves it.  Every year is filled with a variety of wonderful experiences along with deepening friendships and personal growth. 

Singing and laughing together

The view from the big camp tree they all like to climb!

A small group of campers accompanied by their advisor, Evan

Blackberry picking!

Looking good so far...

Ben and Aytch

Ben is playing the custom bass he built, accompanied by Josh on piano.

A portable amp comes in quite handy at camp.

Josh and Ben worked on writing a couple camp songs together.

Music, music, music

Ben got to help set up a treasure chest for a scavenger hunt.

Getting a rope ready for hoisting it up

Yes, a hanging treasure chest!

Playing ultimate Frisbee

Ben and Evan get a huge balloon ready for a field game.

Ready to go...

A small group meeting under the shelter of a parachute

Ben assists another camper on the slack line.

Ben loves balancing on the slack line.

Happy

Ben's Backpacking Trip With Blake & Josh

Desolation Wilderness
Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, California

Josh and Ben

Ben and the waterfall

Blake and Ben

Blake jumps across the six foot divide, following Ben's initial lead.

Josh follows suit.

Ben and Blake relax in the sun.

Ben creates a soft spot for sleeping.

Nearby bark from a tree like this makes good padding underneath a sleeping bag.

Wildflower

 Another lovely local

Ben finds a nice place to rest.

Camping on the Oregon Coast

At the end of July, Ben and I took a big road trip with friends for our annual camping trip.  We went to the Oregon Coast and stayed at Umpqua Lighthouse State Park.  The Oregon sand dunes were amazing, and everyone had fun walking in the sand, jumping all around, and exploring the varying landscapes.  Some of the kids tried ATV riding which was quite an adventure.  Although the weather was cool and overcast, the coast was beautiful and the camping was good.