# Brian MacLeod's tone



## WarrenG (Feb 3, 2006)

Hi folks,

I was listening to some older Chilliwack and Headpins tunes recently as was quite struck on Brian MacLeod's (R.I.P.) guitar tone. Very clean and punchy. Does anybody know what gear he was running, back in the day?


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## Hamm Guitars (Jan 12, 2007)

I always remembered him playing a strat through a marshal half stack. I don't know what he recorded with though.


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

My compliments on a fine topic and taking notice to some excellent tone.

Brian "Too Loud" Macleod's tone was in part due to his very unique Strat and older Marshalls and his production savy. From what I know Brian liked simplicity and recorded and played live with the same main rig.

His tone had clarity, definition, and was very well balanced yet cutting and was never too satchurated.

Brian also had a unique style... liberal use of two hand tapping was de riguer for the 80's but even then Brian kept it recognizable.


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## Evilmusician (Apr 13, 2007)

Brian MacLeod's (R.I.P.) quite a guitarist ! I think alot of his tone was as they say in the fingers :bow:


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## gramatica (Dec 3, 2007)

*my ears are still ringing*

I saw *Chilliwack *at the Ottawa Civic Center... 1982-ish? :smilie_flagge17:

I was in the pit - well "standing room" as we called it, cause it wasn't "a pit" then. Anyway, I am at stage right, and Brian is standing right in front of me. _Too Loud? _ No kidding... I heard his amp, not the PA mix!

He played a gorgeous honey-sunburst strat. Looked like 3 single coils. He seemed to be tuning constantly with a strobe-thingy - it looked like a disc about 10inches around, sitting on top of his amp. Not that he was ever out of tune, mind you. :smile:

I had a Northern strat at the time and what amazed me was that his didn't make any noise, if you get me.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Evilmusician said:


> Brian MacLeod's (R.I.P.) quite a guitarist ! I think alot of his tone was as they say in the fingers :bow:


I think a lot of people underestimate the impact of their fingers in their tone. Everything in the chain from you to the amp affects the tone to some degree, but you are probably the biggest effect on your own tone.

As for Brian MacLeod, he's one of the guitarists I always think of with a Strat.


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## bobb (Jan 4, 2007)

Maybe my memory is failing a bit. I thought Brian ran a Hiwatt half stack.


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## Spikezone (Feb 2, 2006)

He was PHENOMENAL-what a huge loss to the Canadian music scene when that friggin cancer got him!
-Mikey


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## soundhound6 (Jun 30, 2008)

*too loud Macleod*

Brings back a lot of memories..all of them positive...er...except maybe a little envy. :bow:
Man!! Those were days,eh?
Jan


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## Hamm Guitars (Jan 12, 2007)

bobb said:


> Maybe my memory is failing a bit. I thought Brian ran a Hiwatt half stack.


I very well could have been a HiWatt, they look pretty similar to a Marshall. My brother knew him, I'll see if he remembers...


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Premature senility. I can't recall a single Chilliwack song!


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## gramatica (Dec 3, 2007)

The tour I saw - Gone Gone Gone (My Girl...), Watcha Gonna Do When I'm Gone

From the 70s - Arms of Mary, Baby Talk - or is it Crazy Talk? either way I hate the song!, Lonesome Mary, Fly at Night (4 men in a rock n roll band...)


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

My first concert was the Headpins opening for the band Toronto......it still remains the loudest show i've witnessed (my ears rang for 3 days)...


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

gramatica said:


> The tour I saw - Gone Gone Gone (My Girl...), Watcha Gonna Do When I'm Gone
> 
> From the 70s - Arms of Mary, Baby Talk - or is it Crazy Talk? either way I hate the song!, Lonesome Mary, Fly at Night (4 men in a rock n roll band...)


Crazy Talk--the first song of theirs I ever heard--I like it.
Then there's C'mon Over (or was it Come On Over)--I've seen it spelled both ways.
And There's Something I like About That.

Those 3 would at the top of my list of Chilliwack songs.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I'm strangely comforted that so many people here know and respect the playing of Brian "too loud" McLeod.

Chilliwack was one of my favourite Canadian bands and I agree his tone was excellent as was his playing. Gear? Sounds like a Strat through a Marshall but I never paid much attention to that.


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

Here are some nice pics of Brian and his main guitar... I believe it's a 62 strat for the most part.

http://pammarsh.com/mcleod.jpg

Thats a Music man 2x12 Brian is crankin through in this photo... clic on the photo far left.

http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgu...ev=/images?q=brian+to+loud+macleod&um=1&hl=en


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## bobb (Jan 4, 2007)

KHINGPYNN said:


> Thats a Music man 2x12 Brian is crankin through in this photo... clic on the photo far left.
> 
> http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgu...ev=/images?q=brian+to+loud+macleod&um=1&hl=en


That was it. It appears that my memory has failed a bit. Brian's amp of choice was a stock Musicman HD212. Before that he ran a Super and a Twin. Not sure if they were both at the same time though.


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

Music Man made some fine amps. I'm always on the look out for any all tube MM 2x12.


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## Hamm Guitars (Jan 12, 2007)

Hamm Guitars said:


> I very well could have been a HiWatt, they look pretty similar to a Marshall. My brother knew him, I'll see if he remembers...


 
Someone else here was right, no Marshall or Hiwatt. He used a Music Man 100 RD head and a 2x12 cab, and had used various fender heads as well.

I looked around on the web, and there are numerous pictures and videos with Marshall stacks on the stage, but the headpins were openers at alot of shows. I can't find anything with a clear picture of his rig in it.

I'll see if my brother has any personal photos with his rig in it.


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## bobb (Jan 4, 2007)

Brian might have experimented with Marshall and Hiwatt on occasion but those were shortlived. The Musicman was the main amp after the Fender Super and Twin. I see Ab Bryant quite a bit and finally remembered to ask him about the amps yesterday.


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

Found a mint late 70's Music Man 212 HD one thirty in California. That was one hell of a tone quest... I've been looking for one for about 6 years. I recently got motivated by this thread to have another look around... should have it in a couple of weeks.


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## WarrenG (Feb 3, 2006)

I wanted to thank everybody in their efforts to provide this info. It was much appreciated.


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## montreal (Mar 25, 2008)

hey...
too loud's recorded guitar sound was a little bit more interesting than the simple guitar and amp. Yes, he started with a strat and usually ran it through a marshall with a single 4x12, but the missing ingrediant and the "too loud" part comes from the fact that he mic'd his amp with a single sm57 and ran it through a live pa system and then mic'd the pa from a bit of distance. he seemed to favour a mid-sized club pa based around martin speaker components. i saw this rig at, i think, mushroom sound and was in awe at the sheer amount of noise that could come out of one guy with a guitar. just thought i'd share that....too bad he's gone.....


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Great thread.

He sure sounded good didn't he?

That's what it really comes down to. 

RIP for sure
:rockon:


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## bobb (Jan 4, 2007)

Milkman said:


> Great thread.
> 
> He sure sounded good didn't he?
> 
> ...


Awesome guitarist and drummer. Hell of a loss. 

Back to the tone quest, I can't think of another player who made such a strong tonal statement with a Music Man amp either before or since.


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## Hamm Guitars (Jan 12, 2007)

My brother says he's found the negatives of the Headpins opening for Loverboy back in the mid eighties. He asked if I just wanted the rig, or if I wanted his pedals and stuff too, so I should have photos soon.


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

> hey...
> too loud's recorded guitar sound was a little bit more interesting than the simple guitar and amp. Yes, he started with a strat and usually ran it through a marshall with a single 4x12, but the missing ingrediant and the "too loud" part comes from the fact that he mic'd his amp with a single sm57 and ran it through a live pa system and then mic'd the pa from a bit of distance. he seemed to favour a mid-sized club pa based around martin speaker components. i saw this rig at, i think, mushroom sound and was in awe at the sheer amount of noise that could come out of one guy with a guitar. just thought i'd share that....too bad he's gone.....


Montreal... that is invaluable info... thanks for sharing.



> Great thread.
> 
> He sure sounded good didn't he?
> 
> That's what it really comes down to.


Milkman... well said!



> Awesome guitarist and drummer. Hell of a loss.
> 
> Back to the tone quest, I can't think of another player who made such a strong tonal statement with a Music Man amp either before or since.


bobb... it's a shame he went so early... left a great mark on Canadian music though... hope to see brian truely appreciated and celbrated for his contributions... some day.



> My brother says he's found the negatives of the Headpins opening for Loverboy back in the mid eighties. He asked if I just wanted the rig, or if I wanted his pedals and stuff too, so I should have photos soon.


HAMM GUITARS... my left nut will ship out immediately upon reciept of the photos... LOL... can't wait to see them.
Does your brother have any good photos of Brain.
Have you seen my Mural? Brian is going on there this winter.

Cheers All
Craig


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## Hamm Guitars (Jan 12, 2007)

I don't know what he has, he has tonnes of photos from the eighties as he was paid to take the promo shots of concerts on the East Coast. He has lots of back stage photos and what not.

I'm not sure how well he knew Brian, but I did meet him once or twice while I was with him. It's possible that he might have some good shots backstage or even live, but I've never known my brother to just take photos out of the blue.

I've never seen your mural... got any pics?


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

This mural is 24 feet by 8 feet
From left to right starting from the top...


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

and nuber five the far right...


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

As you can see some of the characters came out better than others... we are going to have the artist come back and do some redo and additional work.

Brian and Paul Hackman are going to be on the next wall.


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

I'm gettin pretty stoked about this one... the Music man 212 HD One Thirty is on the way... ETA... Thursday September 4th!!!


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## noobcake (Mar 8, 2006)

man KHINGPYNN that has got to be the coolest mural I have ever seen! I love how badass Jimmy looks haha:smile:


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

hey thanks... it's inspirational for sure... we reherse there... it's at my place.


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## Hamm Guitars (Jan 12, 2007)

I haven't forgot about those pictures - my brother has the negatives and he is still looking for the prints (or his negative scanner). I'll keep on him and get him to make more prints or take them someplace to get them scanned.


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## bobb (Jan 4, 2007)

Hamm Guitars said:


> I haven't forgot about those pictures - my brother has the negatives and he is still looking for the prints (or his negative scanner). I'll keep on him and get him to make more prints or take them someplace to get them scanned.


Thanks to the Headpins bass player, the equipment mystery was solved, but we still want to see those pics so definitely, stay on your brother's back for us. :smile:

and KHINGPYNN, post pics of the new amp when it arrives as well as your impressions of the sound.

The only two SS or hybrid amps that I ever seriously wanted but never had were a MusicMan and a LAB Series. Oh well, maybe one of these days...


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

Pics will be posted... y

yes keep on your brother... photos of Brian would be awsome as they are rare.

A friend of mine years ago had a Lab L5 I believe... it was the 4x10 version. That was a very nice amp. It had a warm up/standby switch. I guess the reason being is that SS components need time to warm up too!

Cheers
Craig


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## Rhythmeister (May 17, 2006)

bobb said:


> Back to the tone quest, I can't think of another player who made such a strong tonal statement with a Music Man amp either before or since.


A lot more players than you might think...

Eric Clapton
Mark Knopfler
Johnny Winter

...even EVH at one point...


Cheers,
Blair


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

true... Clapton was the first signed... EVH used one... a 1x12 RD 50 i believe.


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

montreal said:


> hey...
> too loud's recorded guitar sound was a little bit more interesting than the simple guitar and amp. Yes, he started with a strat and usually ran it through a marshall with a single 4x12, but the missing ingrediant and the "too loud" part comes from the fact that he mic'd his amp with a single sm57 and ran it through a live pa system and then mic'd the pa from a bit of distance. he seemed to favour a mid-sized club pa based around martin speaker components. i saw this rig at, i think, mushroom sound and was in awe at the sheer amount of noise that could come out of one guy with a guitar. just thought i'd share that....too bad he's gone.....


thanks Montreal
That is exactly the same story I was told many, many moons ago by a producer friend of mine when I quizzed him about Brian's sound.

Pete


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## MykelJ (Nov 3, 2006)

I was able to see and meet Brian back in 1986 in a small club in victoria bc, when he was fronting a band called "Steel MacLeod and Prisoners" - it had a singer named David Steel (no relation to Chrissy Steele), Bernie Aubin (from headpins) on drums, and different keyboardist and bass players (can't remember their names). this was post-headpins, pre-chrissy steele era. they recorded demo's, but nothing was ever released.
Anyway, i was able to check out Brian's gear -(and talk to him about it) he was using the Fender Strat - it was a '63 stock ( he later added a humbucker and floyd rose to it by '90) and he ran through 2 combo 2X12 music man's amps running both together. This amp had a transistor preamp and tube power amp setup, and was kind of modeled after the Fender Twin with master volume amp. I was there for the soundcheck and he lived up to his nickname! it was LOUD! even when the band played, the guitar was the loudest thing. To me, it sounded like he was using mostly power amp overdrive, which i think makes up alot of his sound/tone.

I did read when he recorded the Chrissy Steele tracks, that he used a single 57 (although i didn't know about the 2nd mic on the pa system). I thought the tone he got on Steele was even better than the Headpins sound.

I saw Brian play with Chilliwack first on the Lights from the valley tour (his first with them) and later on through the OpusX era. When i saw him in the club, i sat up close and watched his technique all night..just amazing. (especially the volume swell effect he used in 'people' solo) He was one of my main guitar influences and it was great to finally meet and watch him up close.

he did do alot of session work (with tim feehan) and there's live tracks out there somewhere (some with Holly Woods and Toronto)

he was a great player, writer, engineer, producer and is missed.


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

Thats very cool that you met with Brian the way you did. 

Two Music Man 212 HD One Thirty's is what he used for sure then... the later one with no preamp or phase inverter tube. I have that exact amp on the way. I could not remember the year I thought it was 62 but it's 63.

Brian was a very talented and unfortunatly under apprecitaed musician/artist. I mean by the industry not his peers or fans.

I remember way back in the mid to late 80's when i was just starting out as an Electrician I was working for the Avalon Consolidated School Board. The High School that Brian attended had a huge tribute cabinet with all Brians awards and related "stuff". Very cool.

Thanks for posting your story.


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## keefsdad (Feb 7, 2006)

Whatever he used he always sounded great.
What a loss.
RIP


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## rwe333 (Feb 18, 2006)

GREAT player/sounds!


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

Going on a limb here.....but didn't he win a Juno or equivalent music award for keyboard player of the year....it was the same year that Rush won a pile of stuff and lifetime achievement or something....many many moons ago...I remember Too loud accepting teh award and stating that they should all have a jam session after the awards (why i remember this i'll never know )


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

Thats a cool story.


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## rwe333 (Feb 18, 2006)

bobb said:


> Back to the tone quest, I can't think of another player who made such a strong tonal statement with a Music Man amp either before or since.


Johnny Winter, Waddy Wachtel, Chris Cain and Albert Lee still use 'em. EC used 'em in the 70s.


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

> Johnny Winter, Waddy Wachtel, Chris Cain and Albert Lee still use 'em. EC used 'em in the 70s


True and good point to mention... 

I believe what Brain did was the unexpected... he used the Music Man in a different way... his tone was very unique and awsome at the same time.

Just a little tone update... there will be a full review with photos and audio at a later date.

I have been tweeking the SS preamp gain and found a "sweet spot".

If you go full guns on the gain it's unique and usable for a different vibe.

However when I set the preamp gain so that it's barely breaking up... ie pick/strum light and it's clean then pick/strum hard and it gets dirty...

the reward is a great power amp tube like sparkle... a fuzzy sparkle if you will... I'm talking at a frequency that a presence dial will have the most effect on. Turns out this sparkle blends really well with the BBE Green Screamer and Soldano Super Charger GTO I'm using. It's very unique sounding.

It's worth mentioning that the SS breakup point is very subtle for an SS circuit... it's not as subtle as tube breakup but it's not as choppy as most SS preamp/overdrive/distorion units I have had experience with in the past.

I have also had a chance to run this thing wide open... for about two hours... that was fun!


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

I forgot to mention this amp has a super quick attack... notes tend to jump off teh speakers with an initial volumn "burst".


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## chopshopguitars (Mar 21, 2009)

*Brians' tone*

In Chilliwack he used a Marshall halfstack and strat. In Headpins as the lone guit slinger (where he really dialed in his tone), he used Musicman amps. In the studio for Headpins he miked his amps into a full 3 way pa system and recorded the "live" sound from the full 3 way pa system rather than just miking his guitar amp. He favoured treble on his amps and cranked his amps waaaaaaay up to get the sweetness. Too much treble sounds gross until the speakers start really pumping and moving alot of air. The guy was a flippin genius and did truly have a unique and reconizable tone!


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## Lacoprozac (Dec 27, 2011)

Hi guys...to answer the questions about Brians tone...here it is (hey was my friend and I have his beloved strat!). He used Musicman...usually the 212 HD and he also had a 75 watt head. You run the volume on ten (hence the "Too Loud"),treble on ten...YUP!! no mid or bass!!...really!. The guitar is an "L" series '63 re-finned in a cherry sunburst, the original fretboard (veneer) was removed and a slab style rosewood board with an extra fret. Currently the bridge is a Jeff Beck,when Brian had it he replaced the original bridge with a floyd rose bridge. We had come to the agreement that you lost about 20% of the tone with that bridge but he kept it antways. The bridge pick-up is a Dimarzio SDS-1 ...very noisy...but combined with the Musicman gives you that tone (somewhat). There is a "magic" in this guitar as I have others with the same components and they just dont quite sound the same as Brians...plus "HE" was magic...I hope this helps...Greg


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## Big_Daddy (Apr 2, 2009)

Wow! That's amazing. Do you have pics of the Strat? That is a hall-of-fame instrument you are holding there.


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## flattopterry (Mar 6, 2011)

Former members who've passed away will be honoured at the performance as well. Howard Froese's son Tyson will fill in for him on the acoustic solo he made famous on "Baby Blue." Henderson is particularly excited about the successful end to a search for Brian MacLeod's old guitar. After MacLeod died, his fender strat with a cherry sunburst finish, Floyd Rose bridge and locking nut, exchanged hands a number of times. The band issued a public outcry for anyone knowing of its whereabouts and Wednesday, got word that it was safe with a man in Calgary. Alta., who funnily enough, is a big fan of the band. The current owner attended his first Chilliwack concert at age 14.
The guitar is en route to Vancouver and will be incorporated into tonight's show.Some new faces are also on the reunion show bill, 

This must have been you eh? I did see Brian play at a club in Vancouver with Steel, MacLeod and Prisoner. My wife was friends with David Steel's sister, so we went. Very glad we did, it was awesome and inspiring.


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## Lacoprozac (Dec 27, 2011)

Im not sure how to upload pictures on to this forum.... I am a big fan..unless I'm mistaken and confused I'm not sure how flattopterry thinks I saw my first Chilliwack concert at age 14 or the guitar is on route anywhere...


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## Big_Daddy (Apr 2, 2009)

Lacoprozac said:


> Im not sure how to upload pictures on to this forum.... I am a big fan..unless I'm mistaken and confused I'm not sure how flattopterry thinks I saw my first Chilliwack concert at age 14 or the guitar is on route anywhere...


There is a thread here under Admin Announcements on how to post pics......

http://www.guitarscanada.com/admin-announcements/42252-posting-pictures-forum.html

Hope this helps. 

BD


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## flattopterry (Mar 6, 2011)

Lacoprozac said:


> Im not sure how to upload pictures on to this forum.... I am a big fan..unless I'm mistaken and confused I'm not sure how flattopterry thinks I saw my first Chilliwack concert at age 14 or the guitar is on route anywhere...


That was a quote from the North Shore News back in MAy 2010. I should have mentioned that. Not a true story??

http://www.nsnews.com/entertainment/Chilliwack+rock/3056525/story.html


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## keefsdad (Feb 7, 2006)

Another big fan here. I think I have all the Headpins stuff on vinyl. What a sound. 
RIP Brian.


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## 2N1305 (Nov 2, 2009)

*Pictures?*



keefsdad said:


> Another big fan here. I think I have all the Headpins stuff on vinyl. What a sound.
> RIP Brian.



Hi people and fans of Brian,

has there been any news on the guitar's arrival, and also,

_COULD WE PLEASE SEE PICTURES?...
_


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## bobb (Jan 4, 2007)

2N1305 said:


> Hi people and fans of Brian,
> 
> has there been any news on the guitar's arrival, and also,
> 
> ...


The story from the North Shore News was for a Chilliwack Reunion show that happened about two years ago. The guitar was placed on stage during the show and was returned to the current owner afterwards.


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## 2N1305 (Nov 2, 2009)

ah, OK. Well, still could the owner post pictures? I'm sure many of us would like to see up close pics of the guitar. And for that matter, Brian's stage setup too, which was discussed in a previous post.


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

62 strat was his main axe and he favoured 2x12 Music Man Amps in the early days. Wish there was more live video of him.


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## Rick31797 (Apr 20, 2007)

TO bad we didnt get too see a good ending too this thread..

good video

[video=youtube;7y4CI-L7rZ4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y4CI-L7rZ4&amp;feature=related[/video]


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## 2N1305 (Nov 2, 2009)

Hey people - here's a music man 100W amplifier for sale on ebay...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Music-Man-1...050?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e73e1ed3a

the first and most important item to Brian's tone. (assuming you can play like him and have a modified Strat with a DiMarzio in it). I'm sure he must have put some kind of preamplification pedal before it, because you can't get those harmonics and sweet-sounding solos like on Opus X without something like that. what a great album.


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