Syd Barrett

This picture, found on this fan site, shows Syd Barrett holding his Fender Esquire.

This guitar had mirrored discs taped on it, which was all the rage back in the 60's. According to Feel Numb website, even Jimmy Page made a hommage to Syd Barrett with the mirrored discs thingy.

In this photograph, Syd can be seen playing with Rick Roger and Nick. The guitar he is playing is a Danelectro Double Cutaway.

In this photo, and this one, Syd Barrett's black Fender Telecaster can be seen.

Syd bought this guitar presumably sometime after joining the Tea Set (soon to be renamed Pink Floyd on Syd’s incentive). He was seen playing this particular guitar on a photo taken at a Tea Set gig sometime in late 1964/early 1965, at the time when Chris Dennis was still a part of the band.

It took us depressingly long time to figure out the exact model of this guitar, but it eventually turned out the be a Framus Sorella – a guitar similar to the one Paul McCartney played almost a decade earlier. The guitar was made in Germany, presumably sometime in the early to mid 60s, and it featured archtop design and dark red finish with black edges.

What’s especially interesting about this guitar is that is seems to have featured a custom-fitted pickup. If you look at the photo linked in the first paragraph, you’ll notice that the control knobs are kind of just hanging from behind the bridge mounted on a small piece of metal, and the wires are hanging loose on the side.

The exact model of the pickup fitted on Syd’s guitar is called DeArmond Rhythm Chief 1000, and is fitted on a guitar by clamping it on the strings behind the bridge, with a metal rod extending toward the neck and holding the pickup itself in a desired position. This design allowed amplifying an archtop guitar without drilling holes in the body, or damaging it in any way.

We learn two things from this observation. The first one is that the guitar was originally an acoustic, and the pickup was installed later on, possibly by Syd or someone close to him. The second one is that Syd preferred the bridge position of the pickup, which became even more obvious with him obtaining a Fender Esquire later on in Pink Floyd – which is basically a Telecaster without the neck pickup.

http://www.groundguitar.com/syd-barretts-guitar-and-gear/

Syd used this guitar on the last song he would record with the Pink Floyd, “Jugband Blues” from the 1968 album A Saucerful of Secrets. The guitar can be seen in the music video of the song [Pink Floyd – Jugband Blues].

According to David Gilmour, who at that time covered for Barrett’s eccentricities, talked a little bit about the guitar they used during the A Saucerful of Secrets era:

"At the beginning we used Levins, which were quite good guitars, a bit like Martins, made in Sweden or somewhere, then we moved onto Martin D-35s and things like that and now we tend to use Ovations mostly for recording and things. [Guitar Heroes #9 May 1983]". Source: https://www.groundguitar.com/syd-barretts-guitar-and-gear/#1961-selmer-futurama-iii

Syd Barrett is pictured with a Harmony Sovereign H1260 acoustic guitar, as shown in a user-uploaded photo on Wikimedia.

This was Syd first electric guitar, bought sometime in the early 60s – probably as early as 1961, for £25. This guitar came about a year after Syd bought his first guitar, which was an acoustic Hofner, and about the same time he form his first band called Geoff Mott and The Mottoes.

"In a photo, Barrett strums the shiny new Fender while his discarded Hofner Committee ..." Syd Barrett & Pink Floyd: Dark Globe

Syd Barrett used a Dano Yellow Danelectro Solidbody Guitar during the recording of Pink Floyd's first two albums. This model, noted for its shape reminiscent of the Selmer Futurama III, is highlighted on PicClick.

He can be seen using a white Fender Stratocaster electric guitar on this photo.

Barrett playing an Epiphone Casino during his final August 1974 recording session before completely withdrawing from music for the rest of his life.