Who we are
A tradition of english violin making.
Made by Hand
Every instrument begins with the material itself. Fine maple and alpine spruce are selected for their grain, figure and character. Our varnishes are made in the workshop from traditional gums, oils and natural pigments, chosen to protect the wood while allowing its natural resonance to speak.
A Living Tradition
We work within a tradition that reaches back through generations of English and European making. The great makers established patterns, proportions and methods that remain relevant because they work. We study those instruments closely, not to reproduce the past mechanically, but to understand the principles behind their success and carry them forward.
Made to Endure
Good making demands more than technical skill. It requires judgement, patience and an uncompromising attention to detail. Every instrument is treated as an individual, refined around the player and finished with the same standard we would expect of the finest instruments we have known. The aim is simple: an instrument of beauty, character and lasting musical purpose.
What we do:
Making
We make violins, violas and cellos in the traditional way, working from the patterns of the great makers and shaping each instrument for the player who will use it. Every commission is a collaboration, from the first choice of model and wood to the final setting up and adjustment.
Restoration
We repair, restore and conserve fine and antique string instruments, from careful routine work to the most complex structural restoration. Our approach is guided by an understanding of an instrument’s history, construction and character, with the aim of preserving what matters and returning the instrument to its fullest musical life.
Instruments
We offer fine new and antique instruments to players, collectors and institutions, with advice grounded in making, restoration and a deep knowledge of the instruments themselves. Whether buying, selling or commissioning, we help clients understand an instrument properly — its character, provenance, condition and place in the market.
Where we are:
Our workshop is located in the heart of Somerset, surrounded by a rich cultural heritage, and a long tradition of craft.
Trust and Credentials:
Established
Decades of experience in fine instrument making & restoration.
Expertise
Deep knowledge of English & European violin making traditions and markets.
Professional Affliations
Members & supporters of leading lutherie organisations.
Provenance
Autherative research & documentation standards.
Est 1985
Chesterblade, Somerset
Having met in Newark at the School of Violin Making and graduating in 1984, Tony and Louise made their home & workshop in Chesterblade, Somerset. Where they could work in peaceful countryside focusing on music and raising their family.
They have continually refined the character of their instruments, each subtly different, iterating on the design & material to create a powerful and luxurious sound and look.
Padday Luthiers
A family workshop for 40 years
The art of violin making has been refined over centuries, reaching its apogee in the workshops of Cremona in the early eighteenth century, a standard against which all fine instruments are still measured.
Tools and techniques have changed little since. The patterns of excellence are well established, the tolerances narrow, and the margin for error unforgiving. What distinguishes one maker from another, therefore, is not method but mastery, the individual eye, the educated hand, the patience to pursue perfection across ten thousand small decisions.
The luthier is, in this sense, both craftsman and custodian: an inheritor of a living tradition, responsive to the demands of the modern player without sacrificing the principles that have governed the finest work for three hundred years. Aesthetic appeal, beauty of tone, and balance across the full compass of pitch, these are not aspirations. They are the measure of everything we do.
L. J. PADDAY
For the player of smaller stature, the instrument is too often a compromise — slightly too large, slightly too resistant, slightly at odds with the body it is meant to serve. Louise knows this not as an observation but as an experience, having studied both cello and violin herself.
It is this understanding that governs her making. Her violins are shaped in the spirit of the Guarneri family, whose instruments have long been admired for their warmth, their responsiveness, and a natural ease of playing that Louise brings to instruments of refined proportion. In her hands, the violin ceases to be a concession and becomes, simply, the right instrument.
A. L. 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. After an early period making violas, Tony turned his full attention to the cello, drawn by the growing interest of players and teachers of the first rank, 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 has had a prolific career, having made over 150 cellos as well as dozens of violins and violas.
PADDAY LUTHIERS
Together, Tony and Louise make violins, violas, and cellos. Whether for the chamber player or the soloist, working across all three instruments builds a knowledge of how each must speak to the others. Knowledge that cannot be borrowed from books or tradition alone, and one that informs every instrument they make.
The choice of wood is the first essential. Each instrument begins with the selection of fine maple and alpine spruce, chosen for the character of the grain, the quality of the figure, and the tonal properties the wood must ultimately serve. No two pieces of wood are the same, and no two instruments are treated as though they were.
Tony and Louise make their own varnishes, from traditional gums, oils, and natural pigments. The colour is chosen for the particular wood in question, to protect it, certainly, but above all to unlock and enhance the full resonance the instrument is capable of.
Sarah works seperately to her parents, her workshop specialising in restoration, repair and sale of fine instruments.
Thomas and Sarah work together to make fine new instruments.
Each player differs, and the Paddays respond to individual preferences with instruments designed from the outset with the player in mind, attending to the refinements that serve technique, comfort, and power in performance. The difference between a beautiful instrument and one that becomes a natural extension of the player lies precisely in such details.
Wherever possible, the Paddays involve the player in the final setting up, ensuring complete comfort and determining the exact balance of sound required. A partnership between maker and player is, for the Paddays, not a courtesy: it is fundamental to the work itself.
Every instrument begins with a conversation. Musicians are welcome to get in touch by email or through the website to discuss their needs, ask questions, or arrange a visit to the workshop.
Instruments may be sent out on approval, giving the player the time and space to live with an instrument before committing to it. Arrangements are made on an individual basis.
There is no obligation to purchase. A refundable deposit holds the instrument whilst a decision is reached, at whatever pace suits the player.
The Paddays work with musicians wherever they are. A conversation costs nothing, and the right instrument, found properly, is worth every step of the journey.
Working With Us
padday luthiers
English violin making. Craftmanship, knowledge, heritage.
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Padday Luthiers
Chesterblade
Somerset
BA4 4QX
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