Juma Mankas
I’ve made a set of mankas and one tarav ghoraj for Zach Ferrara.
They are made out of golden dragon snake Juma® blocs. Juma® – the name stands for independently developed and very modern processing material made from a mixture of various mineral base materials, bound in a resin component. Just like Elforyn® is Juma® excellently suited for the production of components and artistic objects such as knife handles, jewelry, eyeglass frames, or music instrument parts. “Produce your own custom items and delight in genuine one-of-a-kind pieces that no one else will be able to imitate.” the website says.
The material is indeed easy to work with and the result feels very natural and pleasant. The optical effect is stunning and has a nice impression of depth. It is definitely very suitable for decorations, mankas and possibly a tarav ghoraj. But I think it has too little resistance to wear to be suitable for a main ghoraj. Elforyn®, on the other hand, does well. Follow this link for Elforyn® examples.
In any case, it looks impressive on Zach’s beautiful sitar. The manka of the main string is made a little bigger than that of the other strings.
What qualities make the material suitable for decorations, mankas, and possibly a tarav ghoraj, but not ideal for a main ghoraj?
In my humble experience, this material does not feel very suitable to sufficiently withstand the particular wear caused by the playing strings on the main bridge when playing “meend”. Making sliding tones makes the vibrating strings move laterally across the surface of the bridge and cause an extra-abrasive effect. I must confess, though, that I have not tried this out (yet), but the experience I had when working the material strongly suggests this to me. Perhaps this material will be able to produce a good sound, but I fear it will involve very regular “jawari” work. In addition, it will not be easy to do justice to the structure and optical effects incorporated in this material.