"HAITI BANZA PRODUCTION NOTES"
My Workbench while I work on several Banza reproductions. The Template in the background was made by projecting a slide of the original instrument on to heavy cardboard stock, moving the projector back and forth until the image is the correct size, then carefully tracing the images outline. I even mark each nail hole in the design at the center of the fingerboard. Here I'm preparing to copy from my photographs tool marks left by the original builder. Not much finish is used on the final neck. Just a little oil is applied where I want to simulate the places heavily burnished by players. The patina of the possibly 200 year old wood is created by applying lye to the mahogany. The tannins in the mahogany react to the lye and darken just as they would if they had been exposed to years of sunlight. Stains, and dirt are recreated with paint and stain on the Banza's neck, gourd and goatskin head.
