Crazy Tube Circuits unveils Motherload distortion and fuzz pedal

March 21, 2023 · 3 sources

Crazy Tube Circuits unveiled the Motherload on March 21, 2023, a compact pedal that combines a Rat-style distortion circuit and a Big Muff-style fuzz in one enclosure¹².

The Motherload is a compact stompbox with top-mounted jacks and a five-knob design¹. Volume and Gain sit across the top, with a mini-toggle between them for selecting the Muff-style circuit (M) or the Rat-style circuit (R)¹. The M circuit has Tone and Voice controls, with Tone acting between fixed low and high-pass filters and Voice changing the mids to dial in different Muff sounds over the years¹. The R circuit has a Filter control that operates as a variable low pass filter¹. A button links all three EQ controls and applies them to both circuits¹. Guitar World reports that each circuit is fully independent and that the Link EQ button combines both sets of EQ controls². Gearnews describes the Tone and Voice controls as active only in Muff mode and Filter as active only in Rat mode³.

The pedal takes a 9V DC pedalboard power supply and draws 35mA, and it is made in Greece¹. MusicRadar gives the price as 249 euros and says it is available now¹. Gearnews lists an MSRP of EUR 249³. Guitar World gives a price of 215 pounds and states the US price was to be confirmed².

Guitar World reports that Crazy Tube Circuits is promising improved string separation over the originals and quotes the company promising "the holy grail of saturated tones" from the configuration². MusicRadar credits the two source pedals with setting what it calls "the benchmark of saturated guitar sound"¹.