Padday's finest work is found in his cellos. Built on the patterns of Cappa, Testore, Guadagnini, and Grancino — makers whose instruments share a common character of warmth, depth, and singing resonance — they are distinguished by a subtle and considered adjustment to the width across the bouts, widening the outline to project a stronger visual presence and increase the internal volume of the sound box. The result is an instrument of generous voice: powerful, warm, and shaped by a maker who has spent four decades in close and unbroken conversation with the cello.
His varnish is immediately recognisable. A deep, rich red, developed and refined across more than a 150 cellos and dozens more violins and violas, made from his Somerset workshop since 1985. it has been subject to continuous experiment over that period — the colour holding constant while the chemistry beneath it has evolved, producing among his finest examples results of considerable beauty.