The Transparent-est of the Transparent Overdrives
Reimagining the mythical JHS Morning Glory as the ultimate ultra-transparent first-stage boost, the Morning Glory Clean bolsters its predecessor’s overdrive circuit with a studio-grade parallel clean blend that preserves your pick attack, low end, and dynamics — even at higher Drive settings. Built from the ground up — not merely modified from the original Morning Glory — this Bluesbreaker-style overdrive pedal brandishes a dual-gang Clean knob that proportionally tracks your Clean and Drive signals with no phase or volume issues, along with a Tone control that affects only the Drive path. You also get a higher-headroom, dual-supply power section inspired by JHS’s V4 designs. Plug into the Morning Glory Clean, and you’ll experience the familiar harmonic shimmer and compression the Morning Glory is famous for while also restoring wattage, clarity, and punch. Beyond that, this sublime stompbox lends its magic to tube amps, modelers, stacked gain, and electric bass, delivering superior results across the board. Engineered for immediate usability rather than extreme tweakability, the Morning Glory Clean tackles always-on tone enhancement and standalone clean boost duties with equal aplomb, providing you with refinement and balance in lieu of dramatic overdriven textures. When your transparent overdrive isn’t quite transparent enough, the JHS Morning Glory Clean is guaranteed to shine.
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How a soundcheck sparked the Morning Glory Clean
According to JHS’s Josh Scott, the idea for the Morning Glory Clean came together during a Julian Lage soundcheck. A longtime Morning Glory fan and a major force behind its widespread adoption on jazz pedalboards, Julian sparked a deeper conversation about what he really wanted from an overdrive, which pushed Josh to rethink how far the circuit could go. The result is a complete reworking of the Morning Glory around a studio‑grade parallel clean blend, preserving the pedal’s signature harmonic shimmer and soft compression while leaving your guitar’s natural character intact — something any form of clipping, no matter how transparent, inevitably alters.
Clean and Drive that move as one
When we ran the JHS Morning Glory Clean through its paces here at Sweetwater, we quickly became enamored with the pedal’s Clean knob. As per Josh, the Clean control employs a dual-gang potentiometer that scales Clean gain proportionally with the Drive signal. Unlike many clean blends, which typically consist of a simple Mix knob tacked onto an existing circuit, the Morning Glory Clean was built from the ground up so that the two signals track together across all gain settings. And we can enthusiastically attest that it works as advertised — without any volume jumps or phase quirks — just seamless blending from Morning Glory to your pure signal. Moreover, the Morning Glory Clean’s Tone knob only affects the Drive path, leaving your Clean signal untouched. Finally, this stellar stompbox runs on a 9-volt dual-supply power section culled from JHS’s V4 designs, enabling it to achieve greater headroom than the original Morning Glory’s V1 circuit.
Simple controls provide endless — and glorious — sweet spots
Navigating the Morning Glory Clean is incredibly straightforward. The Volume knob controls the post-blend active boost circuit, enabling you to adjust your overall output in tandem with the Drive and Clean controls. The Clean knob re-creates the sound of the original Morning Glory in the fully counterclockwise position and pure Clean signal in the fully clockwise position. Start with the Clean and Drive knobs maxed, then dial the Clean counterclockwise until you find your desired balance. The Drive knob adds saturation to your signal. Again, start with the knob cranked, and use the Clean knob to find your sound. The Tone knob replicates the classic Morning Glory tone stack, affecting only the Drive path. Dial it back for warmth and forward for clarity. Incidentally, you can deploy the Morning Glory Clean as a standalone clean boost by cranking the Clean knob and increasing the Drive. When used this way, the Drive won’t produce any clipping — only a clean volume boost.
JHS Morning Glory Clean Features:
- A reimagined iteration of the classic JHS Morning Glory Bluesbreaker-style overdrive pedal
- Bolsters the original Morning Glory overdrive circuit with a studio-grade parallel clean blend
- Preserves your pick attack, low end, and dynamics — even at higher Drive settings
- Higher-headroom, dual-supply power section inspired by JHS’s V4 designs
- Delivers the Morning Glory’s familiar harmonic shimmer and compression while also restoring wattage, clarity, and punch
- Volume knob controls the post-blend active boost circuit for adjusting your overall output
- Dual-gang Clean knob proportionally tracks your Clean and Drive signals
- Drive knob adds saturation to your signal
- Tone knob replicates the classic Morning Glory tone stack, affecting only the Drive path
