JHS Double Barrel V4 2-in-1 Dual Overdrive Pedal Reviews

Almost 10 years ago I had my first double barrel and I used it for live band performance, mostly worship music when I needed light to mid overdrive, and also some rock when I needed crunch. I then upgraded to V3, then V4. It just got better and better, especially with V4 having the "Clean" knob, which is really a Presence knob setting, and the split setting improvements. I had to sell my board a year ago and sadly my V4 was gone. I have a Line 6 Helix Floor, which is amazing, but I'll tell you right now, there is nothing that can match or replace the type of tone that this pedal can push out, even when I had my drive and my fuzz pedals, I still couldn't get the perfect tone I needed for the type of music that I play.

Finally I am able to afford it and today I bought it again! I can't wait because no matter what I put together with all the effects I have, nothing sounds as good and nothing can be set up as fast and easy as the tone you get from this pedal.

Note: could you play some metal? Yes, you actually can, especially if you add a fuzz pedal after it in you pedal chain. Can you play rock of almost any kind? Absolutely. Now for those in my space, which is to play worship music, you will find that just about every popular worship song on the planet that has any overdrive or distortion it it, whether by strum or 1st/lead guitar parts, this pedal creates that EXACT tone you always hear, without fail. That's why out of whatever I can buy with $ today, I chose to spend my money on nothing more than this amazing pedal. I will never sell this thing ever again! If you have never tried it and are not looking for a purely distortion pedal for metal music, but instead, a perfect overdrive pedal that has a huge range from barely present, crisp, and clear, to a big distorted crunch, please do yourself a favor and buy this. Guaranteed you will freakin' love it.

I had an Analogman King of Tone and a Tube Screamer on my pedalboard, but I found I was usually just using one side of the KOT and running a Tube Screamer into it for extra gain or solos. With the Double Barrel I hoped I would save a little room on my pedalboard but still be able to get similar tones. I was wrong - I am able to get WAY more tones. Yes, I am able to achieve pretty similar tones to KOT + Tube Screamer if I want. However, the Morning Glory side of the Double Barrel is more distinct from the KOT than I expected. The morning Glory is a little less smooth (in a good way, to my ears), has a little more bass, feels punchier, and is overall slightly more "rock" even before you kick in the high gain mode. With my Les Paul and the Morning Glory side in high gain mode, I can get AC/DC or Thin Lizzy Live and Dangerous tones. With my Strat and utilizing both sides of the pedal, I can get SRV and KWS tones with as much or as little sustain as I want, depending on what I'm going for. The clean mix is great for bringing back some clarity and touch sensitivity when the distortion gets too mushy. If you get rid of the clean entirely, turn on both sides and really crank the gain on the Moonshine side you can get stellar Van Halen tones. Run a fuzz into the Morning Glory side by itself and you can get classis Hendrix tones. You can see from my examples that there are certain classic tones I'm going for, and this pedal into a cleanish amp nails them all. I've never been happier with my tone.

Great dual gain pedal, the Moonshine side is super versatile as well as the Morning Glory! I recommend getting the Red Remote switch so you have full functionality with the levels of gain within the pedal. Super awesome pedal, it's my go to for all things gain with my band!

Morning glory is amazing. Always on tone sweetener.

Together with the moonshine, this pedal gets the job done in the OD department. I run it into the dude for even more creamy goodness.

Also use it on bass with good results.

Finally I'm able to get the overdrive sound in my head into my playing.

I have owned an uncountable amount of overdrive pedals, always chasing for the best one and it's taken me awhile but this pedal ended my search! Absolutely incredible overdrive pedal, it gives breath and incredible harmonics to your tone, and it's INCREDIBLY versatile. If you can pony up the money to buy this thing (you HAVE to get the red remote) you will not be disappointed! JHS knocked it out of the park with this one!

I LOVE this pedal, I primarily play indie rock, indie pop, or other alternative rock genres and since I got it I've found that I rarely play without it. Love this pedal so much.

So many combinations... I typically run the Morning Glory side always on at the edge of breakup, then I have the extra gain switch on a red remote OR the moonshine side OR you can run the Moonshine first OR Moonshine and high gain Morning Gory PLUS I have a fuzz before it and a mini Tumnus after it I NEVER NEED ANOTHER GAIN PEDAL at least for a while haha

I was a little hesitant buying this pedal because of the price tag, but this pedal more than delivers! Perfect for anyone wanting to do guitar and vocals. Has really huge clean drive tones (even with the gain all the way up) on the morning glory side for rhythm and background parts. The moonshine side is amazing for leads and solos too, but is also very versatile if you just want a little extra gain bump. Definitely get the red remote switch for this too. You won't regret having 3 different gain stages to choose from, and it honestly makes this pedal that much more worth it.

FYI: For everyone saying the morning glory is a klon clone circuit, it is not. It is actually based off of a blues breaker pedal circuit, and the moonshine is comparable to a tube screamer sound, if that matters to you.

I'm a worship guitarist and the JHS Double Barrel V4 is my main OD on my board. Heck, you could get away with only using this OD pedal. It's technically got 3 gain stages for Pete's sake. Pair it with the JHS red remote and you can stomp your way to 3 stages of OD that, by the 3rd stage, you're already in the stratosphere and soloing your heart out.

(I do end up running a Maxon Apex 808 before this pedal, just to give me a further option to push it even harder.)
But make no mistake, this pedal can make the cake and eat it too. Nothing to be snickered at.

This pedal is awesome, the morning glory side is just amazing and the combo with the moonshine its perfect, especially for worship music. The double barell covers all gain stages in my opinion, love from Mexico.

Perfect pedal for worship , everithing you need

I added this to my board recently looking to consolidate some pedals so a multi-stage drive was perfect for me. It sounds amazing! I have the red remote so I can get three stages of gain stacking. If will do anything from stv to zep no problem. I find the drives to be very articulate and back off really well with the volume pots. Really can't find a bad tone with a single coil or humbucker. 10 out of 10 would recommend this.

I have often struggled with overdrive pedal, especially TS types. I am primarily a germanium fuzz as an OD pedal type player. That being said, with small amps or quieter situations, those pedals aren't always cooperative. I was looking for a versatile drive pedal to go on a small board for mostly my princeton or another small amp. This pedal is a knockout! The morning glory side is the most pleasant and natural OD I have heard yet, and is perfect as an always on type drive. The moonshine side is a perfect lead boost for solos. The clean blend knob, and +/- switch really help you tailor your TS type sound to your liking, which makes it more useable in a variety of situations. This pedal is a perfect all in one Swiss Army knife of drive that only takes one power supply spot. Highly recommended!

I've had V3, and now v4 (even better, and I cant say enough great things about this pedal.. I hope they never stop making it.

This pedal produces the exact tone I was looking for and with the addition of the JHS red switch is essentially four gain stages in one pedal. I run a tumnus after it in the chain and it sings. I would recommend this to anyone. The Morning Glory circuit is amazingly clean and vibrant as a cleabish boost or add a little hair to your tone. The 808 circuit of the moonshine is great with some extra tweak ability for exactly the tone you want. Great stacking pedal. Can't say enough I'm very impressed.

I'm a big fan of two stage overdrive pedals and this is one of the best ever. I like to have multiple levels of gain at my disposal and the Double Barrel gives me three fantastic tones.

To access the third option when playing live you absolutely MUST order the red remote switch when you get this pedal. Without that extra switch to trigger the second stage of the Morning Glory side you just won't be using the pedal to its full potential. I highly recommend adding that to your order.

Although it's commonly referred to as a light to medium gain overdrive, the Moonshine side does saturate nicely into a fat Eric Johnson style violin lead tone or a good saturated crunchy rock tone. The Morning Glory side (on blue mode) is almost a "leave it on all the time" pedal that keeps you right on the edge of break up and just use the volume knob to roll off for cleaner tones. I like to ride that edge of breakup to get a little extra sparkle and sustain. Then I click the red remote to get a mild crunch tone that cuts through.

Great pedal. A bit expensive, but this one is going to stay on my board for years, so it was an investment in good tone.

Probably 2 of the best overdrive sounds (for my opinion at least) in one box.
I leave the Morning Glory side always on (about 12)
I got the red switch plugged in so I can add more dirt.
And then there’s a great sounding ‘tubecreamer’.
All this for one spot in my power supply.
Can’t ask for more.

I got this to place in front of a Marshall Origin 50. I had to place a distortion pedal after the Double Barrel for more modern tones but if you need vintage tones, there"s little this pedal can"t do. In front of a dirty amp, it"s like adding at least two more gain stages.

Having said that, as long as you understand this pedal on its own isn"t a high-gain, modern-sounding distortion pedal, you"ll love it.

I definitely recommend it.

Perfect for lead guitar. The tone stands out and cuts nicely thru the live mix! It"s definitely a winner,

I needed something versatile to use in praise band at church and this worked perfectly. From a clean boost to screaming OD and I can stack them. Lots of tonal options to dial in and it looks great too.

I've been using this pedal with an acoustic guitar, and I was surprised at how well it sounded for this application. I've also used this pedal with my Friedman JJ Jr. and have been very happy with the results. The pedal provided the right amount of boost and grit so I could se the dirty channel a little cleaner than normal. The stacking capabilities of the 2 sides of the pedal make it extremely useful with my amp. Thanks to Aric at Sweetwater for the great recommendation. I've never spent this much on an overdrive pedal, but I'm glad I did. The pedal has exceeded my expectations. BTW, the hi cut switch moves from left to right. You'll need a SIM card tray pin or toothpick to flip it from left to right. It took me a minute to figure that out, but once I did I realized it was easier than I initially thought.

I really like this petal. The Morning glory side can give you the perfect amount of high definition grit. It sounds great with single coils and dual coils.

The Moonshine side has plenty of gain and a unique midrange voicing. I particularly enjoy having the clean blend control. It's really easy to get the sound of a complicated dual amp setup, especially when you have the amp dialed into the sweet spot with just a tiny bit of breakup. Pretty awesome!

I've used it in front of a Blues Deluxe, Kemper, Axe FX III and a Bluesbreaker so far and it sounds great with every one of them. It's a keeper!

I've been through quite a few overdrive pedals and this one has been on my board for the past 8 months with no plan of selling. The Morning Glory side with the Red Switch covers most of my overdrive needs and I love that you can swap the order via a switch. I play through a '64 Bassman and an Egnator Tweaker 15 when I need something lighter... I find the order sounds better depending on which amp I playing.

I gave the pedal 4.5 stars because the Moonshine (TS) side is good but not the best I've heard. I A/B'd it with a Signa Drive which was on my board for 8 years. While I liked the Signa Drive better, the JHS TS was good enough for me to purchase the Double Barrel due to the 2-1 option, small enclosure, top mount jacks, and clean knob which makes the TS side more versatile.

Due to the small enclosure be mindful of where you plan on putting it. If it's too close to another 2-1 pedal or pedal with a tap tempo, the buttons may get a little crowded. This pedal is perfect for a small pedalboard or if you just want to make room for more pedals on your board.

Quality build. MG side adds that extra low gain mojo to the natural sound of guitar and amp

Sounds stellar but just note this will not tighten an amp. Neither side cuts lows.