# Brian "Too Loud" MacLeod tone



## tailtwister (Apr 15, 2008)

There was something totally magical about the sounds that this man made on his guitar. Has anyone had any success in getting close to the kinds of sounds he was producing around the time of Chilliwack's Opus X album and later with the Headpins? There's just something a bit different going on there and I can't quite nail what it is.


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## tailtwister (Apr 15, 2008)

why is it that no matter how you try to use the search on this board, you never find what you are looking for until AFTER you post!!! *LOL*

anyhow, I google'd and ended up back here on the info I was looking for...


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## bobb (Jan 4, 2007)

Don't forget to start with one of these.


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

My first concert.....Headpins/Toronto double bill......I thought Too Loud had Marshall stacks....man, it was loud and remains the loudest concert i've attended. I was with my drummer uncle who had seen/played with everybody and he said it was the loudest concert he had witnessed.....


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## Big_Daddy (Apr 2, 2009)

Brian McLeod is one of my all-time favorite guitar players. I'm still sad that he is gone. And the Headpins? Some of the best drivin', guitar-centric, good old rock n' roll ever!! Turn it loud!!!!!!


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

I think there was a thread on this a couple of years ago.
What I had been told by another record producer was that he played his 65' Strat through a miced Marshall 1/2 stack through a PA that was in the studio and then recorded the miced PA sound. that's what you hear on those records.

Cheers
pete


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## Steve Adams (Dec 31, 2009)

My uncle used to play with brian back here in NL, if I can find him I will ask him what he was using. I know that alot of the time in those days, was a "blur" to my uncle so I dont know if he rememebers, I can rememeber going to my nan's house and brian's amp was there, at the time it was a traynor stack!


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## bobb (Jan 4, 2007)

faracaster said:


> I think there was a thread on this a couple of years ago.
> What I had been told by another record producer was that he played his 65' Strat through a miced Marshall 1/2 stack through a PA that was in the studio and then recorded the miced PA sound. that's what you hear on those records.
> 
> Cheers
> pete


AFAIK, that was an experiment, not his normal setup live or in the studio.


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

bobb said:


> AFAIK, that was an experiment, not his normal setup live or in the studio.


No not live...we were talking about the studio. I know he did Wanna be a Star and Opus X with that setup (because the fellow that told me was in on those sessions). Likely not for every guitar tone of course. Be for those big mid-rangey tones. Very un-Strat like. 
I know nothing about the Headpins sessions.
Funny thing is I asked that very question way back then. ......."How does Brian McLeod get his Strat to sound like that?" He actually got that tone live too. I thought had changed his pickups or something but, apparently not. It's more in the fingers and the technique and tweaking any amp to hear what you want more than the gear itself. 

Cheers
pete


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## bobb (Jan 4, 2007)

faracaster said:


> No not live...we were talking about the studio. I know he did Wanna be a Star and Opus X with that setup (because the fellow that told me was in on those sessions). Likely not for every guitar tone of course. Be for those big mid-rangey tones. Very un-Strat like.
> I know nothing about the Headpins sessions.
> Funny thing is I asked that very question way back then. ......."How does Brian McLeod get his Strat to sound like that?" He actually got that tone live too. I thought had changed his pickups or something but, apparently not. It's more in the fingers and the technique and tweaking any amp to hear what you want more than the gear itself.
> 
> ...


A lot of time has passed since those recordings and memories do get hazy. When the original thread came up, I talked to an inside source. I'm just passing on what was said to me.


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## Steve Adams (Dec 31, 2009)

bobb, 

would'nt happen to know my uncle Donny Janes? he's been in vancouver for AGES!


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## bobb (Jan 4, 2007)

Steve Adams said:


> bobb,
> 
> would'nt happen to know my uncle Donny Janes? he's been in vancouver for AGES!


Sorry, the name doesn't ring a bell. I have been away from the scene for a few years now. If you want to PM a few more details, it might help.


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## Steve Adams (Dec 31, 2009)

Cool, I just found a CD of my uncle donny and brian playing at the commodore.....Donny found the master tape in his stuff, and made a disc at a studio in vancouver!....very cool stuff tho.


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

There is a thread on here that i started on this very topic... Brian MacLeod is sorely missed. Great player, singer, songwriter, producer, drummer... you name it he was a great canadian talent.

For a short time I owened a Music Man HD130 like Brian's... it's a very loud amp but unless Brian had some secret weapon he used I don't believe this was his main tone generator... though maybe his Strat played a key roll in that equasion... surely something would have to tame the HD130 sharpness and harshness.

I heard from reliable soarces he used the Marshall trough a PA for his recording set up. Obviously there is micing to consider... IMHO Brian had a great ear and his set up was unorthodox so it ended up being very well concieved and very different from the norm... this makes it very hard to duplicate that tone.

I believe that a classic Marshall strat set up would get you close.


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## bobb (Jan 4, 2007)

Alex Dann said:


> My first concert.....Headpins/Toronto double bill......I thought Too Loud had Marshall stacks....man, it was loud and remains the loudest concert i've attended. I was with my drummer uncle who had seen/played with everybody and he said it was the loudest concert he had witnessed.....


Two possibilities. It could have been a rented backline or it was the shortlived "fake" Headpins.


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## tailtwister (Apr 15, 2008)

Tony DellaCroce sure has done a great job with the Headpins in recent years (YouTube - Headpins "people" Live) and he's got that tone pretty darned close!!

Note the humbucker in his strat... 

Also, I had heard that MacLeod's strat had a Seymour Duncan stacked pickup in the bridge position -- I wish I could remember where I heard that.


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## Paisley (Feb 19, 2010)

FWIW, appreciation for Brian is alive & well over here in Oz!! I can't remember who it was that put me onto Chilliwhack, but I still have my old vinyl copy of Opus-X, & have fond memories of absolutely flooring people (particularly guitarists) when I played it to them back in the '80s.

The band I was in at the time actually attempted a cover version of She Dont Know (emphasis on "attempted"....lol).


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## Steve Adams (Dec 31, 2009)

Yep he was a great Newfoundlander .

They used to have a bm tribute every year here but that is gone now.

Too bad


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## helmet head (Mar 30, 2008)

A friend of mine toured alongside the Headpins with his band. He said that Too Loud played a stock strat through Musicman amps cranked WIDE OPEN. That's how he got all those crazy feedback, harmonic, and sustain licks. I think he even tuned down. He said he watched MacLeod play every night and never got bored of listening too him. I hear he was quite a charicter too.


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