Syd's Guitars

qjamesfloyd · Post by **qjamesfloyd** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 4:24 pm

I don't know if this has been asked before, if it has, sorry.But what happened to Syd's guitars, like the tele with the mirrors on it?.

tea-set · Post by **tea-set** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 4:29 pm

i heard he swapped the tele for a black strat, i think mosespa now has it. he bought it from keith

my breakfast. · Post by **my breakfast.** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 10:36 pm

That mirror tele was a looker!

Syd had lots of guitars! I Wonder where they all went! I doubt he still had them in his later years.

Sonic Destruction · Post by **Sonic Destruction** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 1:02 am

I think he had a black Danelectro with a white scatchplate which he used for parts of "Interstellar Overdrive" from the "Live In London 66/67" clip. Apart from this and the Tele, what else did he have? I assume he had at least acoustic guitar? Are there any pictures of him with the black Strat?

PublicImage · Post by **PublicImage** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 1:09 am

The "mirror" guitar was not a Telecaster, it was an Esquire. Note the lack of neck pickup. Esquire's only have a bridge pickup, whilst Tele's have both bridge and neck pickups. Maybe this is the same guitar before he changed its appearence?

He also had a Telecaster as well as the Esquire, but he may have traded the Esquire for the Tele, since this photo of him with the Tele was taken after he had left Pink Floyd and there is no photographic evidence that suggests that he still had the Esquire at this point, the photos that do exist point towards the fact that he might have traded it for a normal Tele. Syd also had a black Tele at the Barrett album cover sessions, which you can clearly see leaning against a car in one of the photos. Surely he would have used the Esquire if he did still have it, considering the fact that he had used it at almost every Pink Floyd gig before hand? (this pic is from the solo gig at the Olympia, right?)

Maybe the Tele in that photo is the same one as the one seen in the Barrett photo sessions? The black Tele definitely seemed to have become his primary guitar, because it was also seen in this photo session

It definitely seems that Syd might well have traded/sold the Esquire to get this Tele instead...I would consider this quote to be conclusive evidence of this: "I never felt so close to a guitar as that silver one with mirrors that I used on stage all the time. I swapped it for the black one, but I've never played it."

He certainly must have had an acoustic guitar, since many of his songs with and without Floyd had acoustic guitar in them. The entire Madcap Laughs album, for example. In a 1971 interview, he mentioned that he had a new 12 string Yamaha.

The Danelectro was a DC-59, and as far as I can tell is was not modified in any way. I think that Danelectro started making these guitars again a few years ago, so they are actually available to buy for any Barrett impersonator (or Jimmy Page fanatics).

He also used a Strat with Pink Floyd, as this photo clearly shows (also, check out the Games For May gig photos for more pictures of Syd with a Strat)

Sonic Destruction · Post by **Sonic Destruction** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 3:41 am

Thanks for the info and pix. Very nice. I always wondered what the difference between a Tele and a Broadcaster was. Now I know.

Re Danelectros, I never liked the design of them, at least as far as how they look is concerned. There is one in either the London or Manchester Hard Rock Cafe (can't remember which) that is said to have been played by Clapton when he did the soundtrack for the film "Water". I knew Page had one, but can't think of anyone else apart from Syd who has got one.

Chris Moise · Post by **Chris Moise** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 4:31 am

Great post Public Image!! I think that pic is from the Olympia solo gig but I've seen it listed as the Xmas on Earth gig as well.

Post by **Keith Jordan** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 9:36 am

PublicImage wrote:The "mirror" guitar was not a Telecaster, it was an Esquire. Note the lack of neck pickup. Esquire's only have a bridge pickup, whilst Tele's have both bridge and neck pickups. Maybe this is the same guitar before he changed its appearence?

You should write an article about Syd's guitars for the NPF Magazine!

PublicImage · Post by **PublicImage** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 9:47 am

I don't know enough about Syd's guitars for a full article!!! That was just the definitive post to end all debate as to what happened to the Esquire!

my breakfast. · Post by **my breakfast.** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 2:18 pm

It is highly possible that the Esquire was that white one seen in the really early photos. In some of the other photos from that gig, Syd is playing a different fender? The mirrored Esquire is obviously much modified. Those mirror disks were cosmetic accessories, and Syd must have glued them on!

As for the Tele he used on the solo olympia gig, that could be borrowed from Dave Gilmour (who also played at that gig?), or it could be the one we see in Massed Gadgets' avatar?

He used a white telecaster for the TOTP appearances, and it had a maple neck.

He certainly used a Stratocaster on the track "Take up thy Stethoscope..." using the pickup selector jammed in position 2 or 4, employing two pickups at once (a standard strat feature now, but not deemed necessary on all production models unto the late 1960s/early 1970s)

This shot from the Hornsey College gig show Barrett allready had 2 esquires on the go.

Mirrored Esquire!

American Bandstand. That is a telecaster! you can see the front pickup.

And the Danelectro.

PublicImage · Post by **PublicImage** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 2:51 pm

Ok, so we know that Syd definitely had all of the following guitars:

2 Fender Esquires (normal white one, mirrored silver one)
2 Fender Telecasters (the white one seen on American Bandstand, TOTP, and the black one seen at the Olymipa and various photo sessions. This is probably the black one that he said he traded the silver Esquire for. I can only assume that this is the same one that he used at the Olympia, but the lighting makes it hard to tell.)
1 Danelectro DC-59 (black, as seen in London 66-67 and a few photo sessions.)
1 Yamaha 12-string acoustic, which he mentioned in that interview. We'll probably never know what model it is.
1 Fender Stratocaster, which is seen in the Games For May gig photos and a few others.
There are also, some unknown acoustic guitars which were used on Piper, Madcap, and Barrett.

I don't doubt that he probably had other guitars, but these are the ones that we definitely know of.

my breakfast. · Post by **my breakfast.** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 3:00 pm

Syd used a strat on Take up thy Stethoscope. That is possibly the Games for May strat. David Gilmour had a very similar strat!

Oh... and Rodger...

You forgot all the hollow ones he played early on!

PublicImage · Post by **PublicImage** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 3:01 pm

I'll let you name them, expert-boy!

qjamesfloyd · Post by **qjamesfloyd** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 6:19 pm

Thanks for all the info.Here's a question.Would you consider Syd a better electric lead player or a great strummer?.

PublicImage · Post by **PublicImage** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 6:24 pm

It would be hard to say, really, since he didn't play many solos so we don't have much to judge his lead guitar skills by. Rick was probably the lead instrumentalist of the band, but the solos that Syd does play are pretty unique. He was a great stummer, and was a good soloist when he actually did solos. I'd probably have to say he was a better rhythm player than lead player.