 Barrett played piano occasionally , but usually preferred writing and drawing . He got a ukulele at 10 , a banjo at 11 and a Hofner acoustic guitar at 14 . A year after he got his first acoustic guitar , he bought his first electric guitar and built his own amplifier . One story of how Barrett acquired the nickname " Syd " is that at the age of 14 he was named after an old local Cambridge jazz double bassist , Sid " The Beat " Barrett , which claims Syd Barrett changed the spelling to differentiate himself from his namesake . Another story is that when he was 13 , his schoolmates nicknamed him " Syd " after he showed up to a field day at Abington Scout site wearing a flat cap instead of his Scout beret because " Syd " was a " working @-@ class " name . He used both names interchangeably for several years . His sister Rosemary stated , " He was never Syd at home . He would never have allowed it . " He was a Scout with the 7th Cambridge troop and went on to be a patrol leader . 
