Tony Padday

Tony Padday is a contemporary English luthier based in Chesterblade, near Shepton Mallet, Somerset, working alongside his wife and fellow maker, Louise Padday.

Tony grew up in a Quaker household, surrounded by cellos and the sound of his family playing, an upbringing that instilled in him an ear for the instrument long before he thought to make one. His path as a maker was set by a chance encounter with Gill Solomon over a recumbent Grancino cello, a meeting that crystallised a passion and determined the course of his working life. He and Louise met at the workbench at the Violin Making School in Newark, and graduated together in 1984, subsequently establishing their workshop in Somerset.

After an early period making violas, Tony turned his full attention to the cello, drawn by growing interest from leading players and teachers, among them Raphael Wallfisch and Steven Doane. His cellos are built on the patterns of Cappa, Testore, Guadagnini, and Grancino — makers whose instruments share a common thread of warmth, depth, and singing resonance.

Tony and Louise make their own varnishes from traditional gums, oils, and natural pigments, choosing colour not just to protect the wood but to enhance each instrument’s resonance, and they prefer to construct instruments from one-piece backs, selecting fine maple and Alpine spruce for grain character and figure. The Paddays involve players directly in the final setup of their instruments wherever possible, treating the maker-player partnership as fundamental to the work itself, not merely a courtesy.