Most think Kevin Shields got that big droning, wall of sound from tons of overdubs however, that wasn't it. Check out how he did it!
"Gliding" is a term used to describe Shield's unique style of playing. He tapes up the whammy bar, barely in the body, so it stays loose. Then holds the whammy bar while strumming the guitar, bending the strings in and out of tune to create a Gliding sound.
Most songs were recorded using a Marshall Head with a 4x12 Cab and a Vox AC30. He split the signal between the two, each closely mic'd with 3 or 4 mics (SM57s, Sennheiser 421's, C12s and a Neumann U 6) right on the cone.
Shields used a fair amount of pedals on Loveless but not as much you might think. He insists that he didn't use Mod pedals like Chorus's but rather those sounds came from his "Glide" technique. Here's an incomplete list:
He actually laid down few overdubs, usually 2-3 tracks. That wall of sound came from his use of open tunings along with his "Gliding Guitar" technique. The combination makes an overdub-like sound.
He would change the strings for each song. All tracks were recorded dry, most in mono with the exception of Loomer" and all tracks were varisped to alter the pitch.
He faced two amps together with the trem on both amps set to different rates. They placed a mic between the amps. Did a couple overdubs, reversed it, and played it backwards into a sampler. Then combined each track.