You may know of Joe Elliott as being the lead singer and occasional guitarist for one of the biggest bands of the ‘80s, Def Leppard. However, did you know that Elliott is more than just an occasional player? In fact, when Elliot originally auditioned for Def Leppard, it wasn’t to be the singer; it was to be the guitarist.
To this day Elliot continues to strum away, both with Def Leppard and his other band, the Down ‘n’ Outz. He recently sat down with Guitar World to talk about what brands of guitars he prefers. You can read an excerpt below.
“I’ve got a Normandy Union Jack made out of steel, which is what I use for the Down ‘n’ Outz. It’s a beautiful guitar. They’re a company based in Seattle. I said I wanted the Union Jack so I could use it in the Down ‘n’ Outz, and they sent me the guitar, which is brilliant.” He continued. “When I play guitar with the Leps, I play acoustic, and at this moment, I’m using a Taylor. I swap between Taylor and Gibsons, depending on what mood my guitar tech’s in (laughs).” Adding, “To me, it’s like, look, if it’s in tune I don’t care if it’s a banjo, to be quite honest… but yes, I use Normandy guitars. Jim Normandy’s the guy, and you should really check him out. Beautiful stuff.”
After being in the music industry for more than three decades, you could be forgiven for thinking that Elliot might know a thing or two about mics. However, the frontman says that his attention is solely focused on the music. “…It’s like people ask me about my microphone. They say. ‘What mic do you use?’ I say ‘The big black one in the middle,’ which this year is actually covered in sequins. I don’t know anything about mics. I sing in whichever mic the sound engineer tells me is the mic of the day. Fine! I don’t care! It’s not a priority for me. Priority is remembering the words and trying to sing them in tune!”