Crazy Tube Circuits Motherload

The Crazy Tube Circuits Motherload is an all-analog fuzz and distortion pedal that packs two classic circuits into one box: an M circuit inspired by Big Muff designs and an R circuit inspired by RAT designs. A toggle switch selects between them, and a Link EQ button ties the tone controls of both circuits together. Crazy Tube Circuits describes it as paying homage to "the classic fuzz / distortion pedals that set the benchmark of saturated guitar sound"¹.

Two circuits, one pedal

The Motherload holds two independent circuits, R and M, each with its own EQ controls until the Link EQ button is pressed¹. A toggle switch selects between the Muff-style fuzz circuit and the RAT-style distortion circuit⁴.

Despite housing two circuits, it is not a dual-channel pedal. As Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio put it⁶:

The R circuit

Crazy Tube Circuits says the R circuit "goes from a touch of overdrive all the way up to roaring distortion"¹. Its tone control is a Filter knob, a high-cut control in the RAT tradition. The maker describes its job plainly: "The filter knob is there to ensure that you will smooth out high frequencies or cut through the mix when needed"¹.

The M circuit

The M side is the fuzz half. Crazy Tube Circuits calls it "the classic fuzz distortion beast you would expect but with great string separation and rich in harmonics for almost infinite sustain"¹. Its Tone knob is "the classic muff style knob," and it adds a Voice control that shapes the mid character, something the original Big Muff tone stack never offered¹⁴.

Controls

How the Link EQ works

The Link EQ button is the Motherload's distinguishing feature. With it disengaged, each circuit keeps only its own tone controls, and according to Crazy Tube Circuits' Christos Ntaifotis, who published a technical page with schematics explaining the feature, "This is exactly how the M and R tone circuits inside the Motherload behave when the LINK EQ button is disengaged"⁷. In other words, the M side behaves like an original Big Muff tone circuit and the R side like an original RAT filter.

Press the button and everything changes. As the maker's product page puts it: "Now all the EQ controls are active in both circuits and a whole new sonic palette is revealed"¹. MusicRadar's Jonathan Horsley described it in similar terms at launch: "at the touch of a button you can link all three of these EQ controls and apply them to both distortion and fuzz"⁸.

The controls also interact differently once linked. Ntaifotis explains that "the tone controls are highly interactive with each other when the LINK EQ feature is activated while the final sonic result is different in each circuit"⁷. With Link EQ engaged and all EQ controls set halfway, the maker's analysis shows the Muff's familiar mid scoop giving way to a slight mid boost a little over 1kHz, while low and lower mid frequencies remain somewhat attenuated compared to the RAT tone⁷.

Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson, writing in his 2024 roundup of compact RAT-style distortion pedals, called it⁹:

What reviewers said

Guitar Pedal X also named the Motherload among its best new fuzz pedals of 2023. Stefan Karlsson's verdict there:

That view lines up with the maker's own framing: the Link EQ feature is not a gimmick but the reason the pedal exists as more than two tributes in one enclosure⁶¹.

Price and availability

The Motherload lists at €249.00 on Crazy Tube Circuits' own store and ships in 5 to 6 days¹. At the March 2023 launch, Guitar World reported the US price as "to be confirmed"². A B-Stock listing appeared at a sale price of €209.00 against the €249.00 original, and that listing sold out³.

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