Vanden Mandolin

F5 mandolin by Scottish luthier, Mike Vanden (1978).

Much set-up work has been done so nothing is left to be desired in regard to playability.
1. Full refret but with stainless-steel on frets 1-8
2. 9.5" Fender sized radius on fretboard
3. The base of the bridge is reinforced with a carbon fibre bar
4. Scooped fretboard.
5. New Gotoh MF40 tuners

It plays with ease & is perfect for studio-sessions. There are no structural issues. It has cosmetic marks which you’d expect, given it's 48 years old. I have been playing mandolin for 43 years & compared this one to a Summit, a Massimo Gatti, a top of the range Eastman, a Northfield Big Mon & a Northfield nf5s. I'd favour the Vanden over the Northfields. I’ve only ever seen four of them in all of the online market-places. Vanden's new F5s are UK£7000 (about €8100). One came up on adverts a few years ago and the seller was asking (about) €4k.