JHS Moonshine V2 Overdrive Pedal Reviews

I just received a Moonshine V2 pedal today. I was looking for a versatile TS Style pedal that had more control to shape the tone...clean signal knob in this case, and gain switch. Come to find out, this pedal is much more than a TS Style pedal, in fact I'm not sure i would call it a TS Style pedal at all. Tubescreamer type pedals are usually very midrange intense and thin out the bass. This pedal has a midrange push, no doubt, but not nearly as pronounced as a TS type pedal. This thing just sounds great to push the front of my amps in the + gain mode with the drive turned almost all the way down on the pedal and the gain set mid-point on the amp...fat, articulate, and great note separation. I quickly found some great settings and started to compare it to my array of other OD pedals...nothing sounds like this one for sure. Very creamy top end for soloing from bridge pickups was a great surprise without the monotonous over the top mid boost. Try it out....it is different enough that you won't feel like it is a lot like something else you already own.

This pedal is great. The first time I plugged it in and switched it on I instantly got the sound I wanted with everything set at 12 O'clock.
I was using a Telecaster into the Moonshine, to a Boss 7-band EQ, into a T-Rex Creamer reverb, into a Supro Delta King Amp and it was awesome.

I blame the Moonshine for kicking off my JHS obsession. This and the Morning Glory are both terrific (which is why a lot of folks go with the Double Barrel, featuring both). But if you want solid, versatile, non-transparent overdrive that won't take up a ton of real estate on your board, I think the Moonshine V2 crushes a lot of other options out there. I play a lot of rhythm parts as well, and the Clean knob makes it easy to clean up my tone or get grittier on the fly.

I bought this pedal for an SRV inspired pedal board. I was hoping to get that 808 sound and really be able to dial it in. It's perfect. The clean blend is the bonus feature every Screamer should have.

I needed a reasonably priced, do-it-all overdrive, not just for guitar, but to add a touch of drive to bass and electric piano. And with Superior Drummer 3, I wanted to add some analog saturation to the snare.

The blend is the most important knob on this pedal. Many overdrive/distortion pedals kill the lows. Or they can sound bright and raspy. Then when you turn the tone down, it muffles your overall tone. So it's nice to be able to dial back the drive.

To avoid apartment eviction, I record everything direct so I don't own a guitar amp. I needed a pedal that would give me a tube break-up sound. You can put the gain switch on the low setting and bring back 75% of the clean signal. I have a loud bass rig that I obviously can't mic up so I have to add a touch of analog drive so the bass sticks out more in the mix. Of course, you can add software drive/saturation but it's not the same as authentic, circuit-driven analog drive. You can make this overdrive sound transparent or flip the gain switch up and make it rage.

This is a must have for any home studio. For the price, you can't go bad. So for me, this pedal will work better than any other overdrive only because of its blend feature.

Super versatile pedal here. I put it after my fuzz, which I set quite trebly, and use this directly after. The clean knob makes it easy to control how much of the fuzz is coming through vs how much low midrange I'm adding/boosting. It sounds NASTY!

Then for a colored lead or rhythm, I just roll the clean knob down to about 15%.

I actually use to use the Double Barrel, but couldn't get along with the Morning Glory, so I got this as a stand-alone unit because I couldn't live without it.

Tried the slew of TS style pedals and transparent overdrives and this is both in a simple yet capable design! Love the ability to blend as much or as little grit with my clean. Makes for a perfect mild rock/ blues tone or even a great gain stage with mid/hi-gain amps!

A year ago or so I purchased a JHS Sweet Tea pedal to use for high-gain tones. My focus was the Angry Charlie side, as I had planned to just use the Moonshine half as a dedicated booster. To my surprise, I ended up loving the Moonshine half so much that I purchased the stand-alone unit and quit using the Sweet Tea altogether.

The Moonshine is more than just another screamer variant. I find a pleasant "toothy" structure to the drive that adds a little bit of bite and aggression. The mids are prominent, but are voiced well within the overall eq so they don't get taxing on my ears like some of my other TS-based drive pedals have done.

I use this pedal for mild to medium gain drive tones and pair it with a Wampler Mini Ego for solos. I also pair the Moonshine with a JHS Unicorn for Hendrix and Trower style tones and it works very well. This pedal has replaced several of my other od pedals and has become a staple for me for classic rock and blues tones. Some others have mentioned some noise or hiss coming from this pedal - my pedal has no issues and is very quiet - even when used with a compressor.

Great pedal . Imo way more versatile than your regular ts type pedal 2 options re gain. And a blend knob too.

If you're like me and never happy with drive pedals for very long, or missing that one cool tone you can't get, grab one of these puppies!
A fun pedal that makes you want to play. Weird thing about JHS, sometimes they hiss like crazy, I had that happen to me before and I thought I needed to upgrade my power supplies. Using my new ones I ran across a pedal chemistry thing where it reacts to some pedals but utterly quiet w others. I just noise gate last in chain after my amps if it happens. The sound you get out of this, which is usually completely free of noise is just great. A very wide and versatile gain range and structure, never sounds bad. EQ is usable throughout the range voiced very well. You can blend in some dry guitar signal if you like or if you have something going into it you can bring in a bit more of that for a two voiced drive. MY fav drive pedal. It's on the Sweet Tea if you're lucky enough to have one of those. Also 18v internal charge pump, nice headroom. Dig this pedal! Oh yeah sounds good with any pickups!

I had a Sweet Tea a yr or so ago and have missed it ever since. I decided to buy this one separate and also get a @ version of Angry Charlie and that should make for a killer set. This puppy runs on 18v internal charge pump and it has a vast range of gain adjustment not to mention it sounds like nothing else, just a delight to play. A real winner this one!

Great medium overdrive in the TS family. Great for blues. Has 2 channels and a clean knob.

I am a huge fan of JHS pedals and most of my pedal board is loaded with them. The JHS Moonshine V2 may be the most versatile overdrive pedal I have ever used, and I have used quite a few. I was expecting it to be great, but it truly exceeded my expectations!

The drive range is quite extensive, as it can cover everything from mild transparency (with use of the clean knob) to easily competing with Angry Charlie on his angriest day.

One of the factors to its versatility is the clean knob, which is my favorite feature of this pedal, and not something you normally see on an overdrive. The Moonshine is not technically a transparent OD, but when you blend in your clean tone, you can make it transparent. The clean tone blends perfectly and you can really hear the difference in the type of tone that it produces. I play a strat and love their sound, and the clean knob really works well if you want to achieve a strat-flavored tube-driven blues tone which can cover any spice level you desire. It achieves this with humbuckers as well!

Leaving the clean knob turned all the way off is where it really gets non-transparent and finds its own voice. This variant can cover anything heavy you desire, achieving thick Marshall-style effects and sparkling harmonics.

The tone knob is fabulous, as it has a very wide EQ range. Whether you favor low end, plenty of treble, or a smooth balance, it can cover all of these very well.

The proof toggle goes from saturation to more saturation, and each setting has a very unique character. It is one of the most drastic switches I've seen on an OD, and I mean that in a good way. You really have to hear the difference it makes to appreciate it. It can definitely spread the tonal variations out. I've used both settings and it felt like I was playing on two different pedals!

The Moonshine V2 is an OD that can basically do anything you need it to do. I highly recommend this pedal if you are looking for an extremely versatile and satisfying overdrive.

This thing is absolutely drunk with tone! Pick one up and get you a snoot full !

Fantastic upgrade to the original! The clean knob makes a great pedal even better. It really is a unique feature. It can do easy laid back od to full on grind. Sounds great with strat and Les Paul.

It's a great overdrive pedal. That's for sure. You will find the proof toggle useful, and to me that clean control is where it's at. I love that feature! It really makes it easy to find a sweet spot and change it quickly/easily if you want to. As great as it is, the noise floor just really annoys me, and I had to let it go. I'm really extra sensitive about the noise floor of pedals and amps for some reason. Some people though are not and this won't bother them...not one bit. If you're one of them and looking for a sweet overdrive with a great clean blend control: I'd consider this one for sure.

Great pedal