Padalka

Padalka Electric Guitars — Architecture in Wood and Steel

Simon Padalka came to guitar building the way the best builders always do: sideways, through a door he wasn't expecting.

Growing up in Krasnodar, Russia, in a family of architects, Simon completed his master's degree in architecture in 2012 with a deep appreciation for structural integrity, proportion, and the relationship between form and function. A year before graduating, he had already begun teaching himself lutherie from books, online forums, and the generosity of experienced builders willing to share what they knew. His first guitar took nine months to complete. He was determined to do it properly or not at all. When he showed it to musicians in his city, the response was immediate, and the orders followed shortly after.

By 2015 his workshop had grown. By 2018 and 2019 he was showing at the Holy Grail Guitar Show in Berlin and the NAMM Boutique Guitar Showcase in Anaheim, standing alongside some of the finest independent luthiers working anywhere in the world. In 2022, geopolitical upheaval forced him to make one of the most difficult decisions of his life. He left Russia, relocated to Canada, and joined Dingwall Guitars as a master builder while quietly rebuilding Padalka Guitars from the ground up in his new country.

Today, operating out of Canada with a waiting list that regularly fills a year in advance, Simon Padalka builds five to ten instruments per year. Every single one is his.

Where Architecture Meets Lutherie

Simon has never made a secret of how his training shapes his instruments. Structure, balance, and visual composition are not afterthoughts in a Padalka guitar. They are the starting point. Every body contour, every headstock angle, every choice of tonewood combination is evaluated as both an engineering decision and an aesthetic one, the way a great building is designed from the inside out rather than the outside in.

The result is a body of work that is immediately recognizable: instruments with a precision and visual clarity that sets them apart from anything else at a boutique level, paired with a playability and tonal sophistication that makes every player who picks one up understand immediately why the waiting list exists.

Premium tonewoods including mahogany, white ash, figured maple, black limba, wenge, and zebrawood are hand selected for each build. Necks are carbon fiber reinforced for long-term stability. Hardware comes from Hipshot and Gotoh. Pickups are sourced from Pegcity Private Stock, Fishman Abasi, and other premium makers depending on the build, always chosen in service of the specific instrument rather than brand loyalty.

The Models

Supreme — The first model Simon built after relocating to Canada, and the instrument that announced the new chapter of Padalka Guitars to the world. The Supreme features a 25-inch scale, neck-through mahogany construction, bird's eye maple fretboard, and Pegcity Private Stock pickups, all finished to a standard that Simon describes as the clearest expression yet of everything he has learned across fifteen years of building. Light, resonant, and extraordinarily responsive, the Supreme is Padalka's most refined single-cut design and the model that most clearly shows the influence of his architectural background in its clean lines, balanced proportions, and meticulous surface quality.

Neptune — The headless, multi-scale instrument that first brought Padalka Guitars to international attention and remains the brand's most recognized design. Available in six, seven, and eight-string configurations with scale lengths ranging from 25.5 to 29.5 inches depending on string count, the Neptune pairs a chambered solid body with a bolt-on carbon fiber reinforced neck, stainless steel or EVO Gold Jescar frets, a 16-inch radius fretboard, and Hipshot headless hardware. The Neptune is the instrument of choice for players who operate in extended range territory and demand the precision, clarity, and ergonomic comfort that only a purpose-built headless multi-scale instrument can provide. Featured at NAMM's Boutique Guitar Showcase and widely regarded as one of the finest headless designs in independent lutherie.

Heirloom Instruments, Built One at a Time

With 2025 build slots already filled and a waiting list forming for 2026, a Padalka guitar is not an impulse purchase. It is a considered decision by a player who has arrived at the conclusion that no production instrument, however excellent, will give them what they are looking for. Simon works closely with each client from the first conversation through final delivery, building a mockup and confirming full specifications before a single piece of wood is cut.

These are instruments built to be played for decades and handed down when the time comes. Browse our available Padalka inventory, and reach out to discuss placement on the commission waitlist.