IT STARTED WITH THE RIGHT CUSTOMER

After the Double-neck monster I wasn’t really surprised by any kind of order, so when a customer asked for a 9-string bass that was alright with me.

As far as design goes, the only thing he specified was the body outline. And as it happens, that was crucial for development of the most recognizable Padalka model

As soon as I cut out the body shape it was clear that it couldn’t stay just flat. The outline was too expressive not to support it with some kind of 3D elements. So I started drawing cuts and bevels right on the body, and got a permission from the customer to do whatever I want with the shape, as long as the outline stays the same.

After an hour of belt-sander carving the first Ennea was born. I must say, carving White Ash is extremely difficult with any tool, and doing it with a 5kg belt sander with any kind of precision is rather exhausting. But I was so happy with the result, I just couldn’t wait to see the final result.

THE NECK

With such a wide neck I had to make tapered laminations, so that outside pieces didn’t get cut off halfway through the neck. Hard to see in this picture because of the perspective

I wanted to use really reliable truss rods, so I installed two double-action Stewmac rods and hated them 😄 

Ever since that build I disliked this design with rotating rods because they tend to rattle so much. I fixed it here with polyurethane glue injections, but tried to avoid them later on.

That looks huge 😄 

The regular 6-string guitar neck is like a quarter of this beast. Oh yeah, and it has 36 frets!

Fretting this thing was another challenge - it’s hard to keep them straight

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

After gluing in the neck it was time for heel blending

Final sanding and off to the pain booth!

My first brass nut. Looking cool 😎 

AND IT’S FINISHED!

MORE PICTURES AND SPECIFICATIONS - HERE

But the story isn’t over. The customer came up with the name Ennea - it was a 9-string with the serial number 009, he had Greek heritage and Ennea is ‘nine’ in Greek.

He convinced me to create a Facebook page and promote on the international market, gave his permission to use the design and the name for future builds. Within a few hours of posting this to a brand new Facebook group I had 400 followers and first international build requests.

Without any doubt, this was the pivotal moment and a jumpstart for the Padalka brand.

Thanks Alik, without your order Padalka Guitars would not be where it is today.

SINGLECUT

A single-cut version came a few years later and became the real game changer. It deserves it’s own article, so stay tuned.