Matt Cooper, luthier

The restored headstock of the Vanden F-5

Niall Toner reports:

My Vanden F-5 style mandolin has been totally restored by Matt Cooper of Dublin, and is now sounding better than ever! Monroe aficionados have often jibed me about the fact that the headstock scroll had been broken off, as on Bill's instrument, but in fact it had happened when my mandolin was knocked off its stand at a gig in Howth in the mid '90s, and never recovered. I had recently asked Mike Vanden about replacing the part, and he had quoted a six-month wait. While I was in Portugal for a week's well-earned rest, Matt Cooper not only did a perfect (in fact flawless!) job, but also set up the instrument to sound and look better than ever before.

Matt has also worked on both of my vintage Gibson guitars, and the results are the same. Hats off to Matt Cooper!


The Vanden's headstock before restoration can be seen on the BIB post of 14 June.