JHS Morning Glory V4 Transparent Overdrive Pedal Reviews

This is my always-on overdrive. Love to set it edge of breakup with my clean amp to sweeten up the tone and get a slightly crunchy boost. It's a game-changer to get an external foot switch to easily switch to the high-gain mode. It's basically two good-sounding ODs in one!

Great OD pedal. I use it for both a light breakup on the amps clean Chanel and gain stage lead boost on the dist. Chanel. It is really close to being transparent. Sounds great through my Mesa.

After buying and using this pedal, I wouldn't want a board without a Morning Glory on it! It's a fine overdrive pedal on its own but what I'm really blown away by it is what it does for other pedals on my board. Stack it into another overdrive or distortion pedal and it will make it scream in the most wonderful ways possible. Run a fuzz into it and even the fuzz sounds better. Stacking pedals can add noise so you may want to add a noise gate in the mix but let me tell you, I love this thing!

So I was using a Maxon OD-9 (Original Tube Screamer)and it was starting to make noise and I could never quite get the tone I was looking for from it. This Morning Glory is a game changer, I absolutely love it and it is a very high quality pedal.

Super pedal, love the transparency of it, can get get some great heavily pushed amp sound at low volume with the right setting which I love. Very happy with this purchase.

If I could only have one pedal it would be this one. Transparent overdrive at its finest, from just a little hair to pretty gnarly. Stacks very well with other pedals.

I purchased this pedal and the red remote to compliment it a few months ago. After having used this pedal in several different applications, from at home jamming to leading a Sunday worship service, I can say this overdrive is easily one of my favorite pedals on my board. It adds in that extra grit and saturation I seek as a lead guitarist without altering my original tone drastically. Combined with the red remote for easy switching between high and low gain modes, this pedal also showcases amazing versatility for the varying kinds of music I play. Definitely worth the money!

This pedal is what I've been looking for that isnt the overbearing distortion yet has enough to be sassy and allow the notes to be clean and succinct. Mostly use the blue setting but the red is nice to have when you want that red-bogner-like tone for a solo at times. I've been thru a ton of pedals and this one stays on the board with a couple of other OD and boost/compression pedals.

I have tried a lot of different overdrives over the years (yes, I had the original Tube Screamer the year it came out) and this one is the first to fully deliver the sound I was seeking.

Josh Scott hit it out of the park with the Morning Glory V4. The Bluesbreaker circuit is definitely my favorite flavor of Overdrive, and the Morning Glory V4 is the best one I've come across in 33 years of playing. Incredibly transparent. I leave it on all the time with the Gain around 10 o'clock with the switch down. Just a light dusting of dirt. It does the higher gain stuff quite well too, if that's more of what you're after. Makes an effective clean boost, too with the Gain off. This was my first JHS pedal, but it definitely won't be my last. Sweetwater got them to me in a timely manner, and everything was pristine. Can't ask for better than that.

Not sure why people complain about it being noisy or anything. It's what I was expecting transparent OD that stacks with other pedals and boosts amps. Always can trust the build quality and never have had a dud from JHS.

Faithful recreation of the original Marshall Bluesbreaker but with a normal volume range. Transparent is a great way to describe the Morning Glory. It can function as a clean signal boost all the way up to a fair amount of overdrive. Not really capable of fuzz-esque tones but it has plenty of headroom. Great natural sounding OD.

There's not a lot to say about this pedal you have t heard from everyone else. The low gain setting is beautiful, edge of breakup. The medium gain (red light) is the perfect amount of overdrive gain for meatier riffs. I play a little bit of everything and I haven't found anything this doesn't do justice. If you're thinking of it, buy it.

Let's talk for a minute. There are many types of guitar players. Some of us grab certain gear because it gives us a certain sound we love. Some, grab gear because it just gets the job done. In a live setting, those differences start to dissappear. I can grab ANY tube amp, ANY drive pedal, and ANY 24 3/4 scale guitar, and play a show. As long as my playing is on point, no one in the audience cares what the brand name is on any of it. But, that's not the whole story. For those of us that have spent a lot of time and money on certain guitars, and certain amps, we want them to sound like what WE like. The issue I have had with most overdrive pedals is that they, in some way or another, alter the sound of my well dialed in tone. Whether they cut bass and add Mid, or they flatten out the EQ spectrum and gain up the signal, they all do SOMETHING to my foundation tone. The Morning Glory is the first drive Pedal I have owned that with all knobs at Noon my tone is perfectly preserved with just "more" to it. Like as if my volume knob suddenly can go up to 15. That doesn't always matter to some players, and any drive Pedal will due the job to fatten out their sound and add that grit that cuts thru the mix. And there's nothing wrong with that! But for myself, who has spent over 20 years playing and getting a "sound" that I love out of the gear I spend my hard earned money on, I want a drive that is truly transparent. This is IT. It's like a magical "makes everything sound better" button! Single notes sing with added sustain and harmonics, and chords have a juiced up sweetness. And when I dig in and play harder, I get a more touch responsive feel. Hopefully my long rant gives you an idea of why this Pedal may be the one for you, or not. Either way, play more and enjoy the music.
Cheers!!

Definitely the best OD I've ever tried, and I've tried several. It's always on. I love it, and can't say enough good things about it.

Ask yourself this question; Are you looking for the best affordable transparent overdrive on the market today?

If your answer is "yes", then here's my advice:
1. Buy this pedal.
2. Ignore all of the non-5 star reviews for this pedal.
3. Clear your calendar so you can enjoy as much time with this pedal as possible when it arrives
4. Write a great review of this pedal so that everyone knows how incredible it is, will buy it, improve their tone, and give the world better music for us all to enjoy.

Before this JHS Morning Glory V4, I had the classic TS9 as my primary drive pedal, yet found myself frustrated that it seemed to do nothing well with my rig unless I was slamming my amp with far too much signal to make it usable in most settings. I also had a Boss DS-1 as my secondary drive pedal to add some shape and hair to the signal, but could never get the DS-1 and Tube Screamer to play well together and create a tone I was proud of.

Then I plugged the Morning Glory into my board. It was love at first strum. Without the "gain" switch installed, it adds color and warmth to the tone, but no breakup. Some people say they leave it as their "always on" pedal, and I can say I'm tempted to do the same. The richness it provides to my Tele on the bridge and middle pickup settings is remarkable, and the sparkle it gives the neck pickup borders on Strat like chime and clarity (having a compressor at the beginning of the signal chain helps with this too).

Dial in some more gain, and you get a pedal that has character when played gently, but that quickly breaks up in a linear and smooth fashion when played more aggressively or when adding in 2 or three strings at a time. The dynamics that I can produce with this pedal makes me feel like a PRO, and I'm really not that great. It just has such a real tone -- like a tone you would hear your favorite modern blues guitarist produce. This pedal will allow you to become 10x more expressive with your guitar playing, and feel like a champ while you do it.

Then hit the "gain" switch, and this becomes a much more gritty pedal, moving clearly into TS9 territory but with significantly better tone. Even while strumming fully-voiced chords, every string maintains its clarity and tonal integrity while dealing out a healthy amount of crunch. Also, how fantastic is it that you can control this "gain" switch with an external foot control. I bought a $10 control at a garage sale and it works like a dream, effectively giving me two fantastic OD pedals. This is a huge perk when playing live.

And yet another benefit of the Morning Glory? It sounds like a dream when paired with the Boss DS-1, which is a pretty cheap and misunderstood pedal on its own. When using the DS-1 to slam hot, distorted signal into the Morning Glory, the JHS pedal tames the DS-1 beast, tightening up and shaping the signal to produce an incredibly dirty, hard-rock guitar tone with growly, bellowing lows and clean mids, all while keeping the ear-aching highs out of the mix.

This is after 2 weeks with the pedal. I can only imagine what a couple months of time with this gem will reveal.

This pedal ROCKs! Goes GREAT with the Crayon! Love the tone I get with the 2 together!
JHS does NOT suck!!! :-)

Almost too good for it's suited purpose. This is my first play of the JHS MG V4; And now I realize that life prior to my MG has been wasted. --- OK ok, It's a fine pedal. So glad I bought it. :-)

It took awhile to get control of at first, but this is my new favorite pedal. Always have it on

This is the best sounding OD pedal I've ever owned.

I've had the Morning Glory V4 for almost a year now and I just love this pedal. It's my ALWAYS ON pedal. Whether I'm playing ambient or metal guitar, it's on as either a stand alone transparent overdrive (the Morning Glory brings a clean amp to life) or as a booster in front of my Revv G3 high gain pedal with the G3's gain dialed back to around 10 o'clock (the Morning Glory adds that special something to the sound).

All jokes aside, this is the best transparent overdrive I've played. There is a good reason that this legendary OD is on countless guitar hero's boards. The circuit is based on the Boss Blues Driver, but it has a high gain mode with external switch jack. Super versatile, this pedal is one of the best gain stacking pedals I've owned. I wouldn't use it alone for metal, but for low to medium gain (or gain stacking) it's hard to beat without going boutique. Also it's gold and sparkly. Nuff said. JHS make great pedals that work as intended, have great tone, and stand the test of time. The first time I plugged it up, it was like fireworks, and also it comes IN A BOX!!!

I bought the JHS Morning Glory to effectively act as a second (overdrive) channel for a single channel DSM Humboldt Simplifier. I am beyond happy with the results. The combination of the Simplifier's crystal clear clean tones brought to edge of breakup goodness via the Morning Glory rivals any tube amp I've heard or played through. The addition of the second gain stage accessible via footswitch is an additional perk I didn't know I needed. It's there when I need it, and adds just enough extra hair to get my signal over the top of a mix. JHS has made a great pedal which quickly has become indispensable on my board. Thanks Sweetwater and JHS for the great service and gear.

Great pedal …my guitar and amp tone remains the same with just "more." More sustain, more crunch, more boost, but still sounds like my guitar and amp. There is the ability to subtly shape the tone like taming the brightness without losing the essence of it all.

Very nice!

Sounds really awesome, and from a great company to boot. Worth every penny.

With Les Paul, Mesa Boogie V on a Marshall stack, I have found the sound with the JHS O/D that made the 1970s rock. Has ability to take it over top for Zeppelin, and down to deliver a added channel sound that I can solo on.
Highly recommended.

This pedal somewhat has a reputation in the Praise and Worship community, and for good reason. It gives a nice clean overdrive sound that is a pretty "transparent" BluesBreaker-style circuit. This is perfect for pushing the amp just past that edge-of-breakup tone, where you are getting that wonderful amp overdrive and compression.

For stacking, this works like a charm - you can combine this with another OD pedal and have fun. I will say that the overdrive tone tends to be very clean and bright, especially compared to something as ubiquitous as a tube screamer. By comparison, it can be seen as "thin" - but in my experience, it hasn't ventured into being painfully bright. If you are running single coils and find it too bright, there is a brightness cutoff on the pedal if you are running into "icepick" territory and don't want to use the tone knob.

I'd also suggest getting a switch for it as well, such as the red remote, which kicks in more gain (engages the toggle switch); providing a nice, rich solid overdriven sound.

I used this as my Stage 1 gain just to add some color to my clean sound. It's perfect! I'm considering adding a red switch to make it my stage 2 as well, it's that good. Easy to dial in the sound that you want. If you want it as a clean boost it will also do that incredibly well.

This pedal is as close as you might be able to get to the famed "Blues Breaker" pedal. Plus, it can (if you wish) go beyond and into a much more overdriven sound with the flip of a switch.

I am yet another P+W bro, and the number of boards I'd seen this on was too great to ignore, so I took the plunge and snagged it on sale.

This drive is now the center around which my humble rig revolves, and is basically the only drive I use. It just makes everything better, so I leave it on all the time.

Volume at noonish, drive at 2 and tone at 11 with the high cut off seems to be the sweet spot for my duller sounding humbuckers and clean Fender-y amp. That gets me through clean parts and lighter rock rhythm through picking dynamics, and activating the red mode gives a great boost for anything that needs to be louder and more aggressive.

I wasn't expecting the red mode to be so usable (no YouTube demos have really done it justice imo) and I may end up building my own Red Remote clone, as kicking the toggle while playing probably isn't the greatest solution...

Basically, just buy it. It's simple and just makes everything nice and crispy, like a good bucket of fried chicken.

I went through several iterations of OD in effort to get tones commiserate with modern Praise & Worship. This pedal kept coming back with positive reviews from far and wide.

Purchased MG v4 with Red Remote, which cuts through Bridges with ease.

I cannot be more satisfied with this OD - I use this also to stage a Monte Allums modded Boss BD2, all this flows to Strymon Iridium- a game changer of a box on its own accord.

Alan and team are great - but that's why I love me some Sweetwater!

Honestly love this pedal! I wanted a nice Overdrive to pair with a Princeton Reverb amp I recently picked up. This pedal sounds Amazing! This is a very easy OD to set and forget. Not finicky at all. Most settings are very useable. Has a really nice feel to it as well. Super dynamic, and really shines with your guitars volume knob turned down.

Love this pedal!! I have an OCD that I was using and got this one for a different overdrive circuit type. So far, I'm enjoying the sound much more than the OCD. It's a very smooth overdrive and easy to tweek. Best part is it doesn't color the sound - my Telecaster sounds just like it should - playing through a Marshall Origin.

Excellent pedal. I have an OCD by Fullertone - also a great pedal - but different circuit design which at times, is a bit harsh with my Marshal Origin 20 and Telecaster. This pedal pretty much leaves the tones of the guitar where they are and adds a beautiful, warm overdrive. Min drive vs. a bit more drive w/ the switch makes it even more versatile. So far --- so GREAT! Thx Phil Potts -- he da' man.

I've used a lot of overdrive pedals in the past but this one really hits different, it's very sensitive with the drive knob and you have fine control, the gain switch is great I also use the remote switch for it and it acts as a boost for me and really makes all the difference. Have had no issues with this pedal great sound and great build.

I've been really enjoying the Morning Glory! It does a fantastic job of tightening up my sound, and it stacks well with other pedals as well. I've been running it before an OCD Ge and I'm absolutely loving how they work together. It is the best pedal I own!

This is my favorite overdrive pedal. Always on. Adds some delicious girth to my tone and I use the red remote to boost my gain stage to 11. If I could have a baby with this pedal I wouldn't because that's pretty sick, but this is still my favorite overdrive.

I've been working through all my old OD pedals and a few new ones I'd heard good things about. Nothing quite 'fit' my rig, either not enough output (especially some of the older ones I loved) or funny EQ curves that interacted harshly with the guitar and amp....But the morning glory fixed all of that. Great fundamental tone, not huge amounts of gain but just nice. Generally this is an all knobs at noon kinda thing but there are plenty of other things that work. Stacks nicely with a boost or fuzz, before or after. But the killer little thing that I like is the gain toggle. Set right, you can go from a good solid gain tone into something that works well for single note lines. I'm running in a switcher system so this is all controllable. Really enjoying this and extra points for Shelby who was awesome as always.

Sounds good to stay on almost all the time ! Provides just a little crunch and then it can sky rocket to a beast drive ! I have a Gretsch Falcon and a Morgan AC20 and it's chimes away !!!

Les Paul + Morning Glory + Marshall tube amp = Plexi-esque bliss. Can't believe I waited so long.

This pedal just sounds so so good, to the point where you just want to keep playing. Awesome low gain pedal, pair it with the red remote for a boost to give it a medium gain sound if needed. One of my favorite pedals ever.

I have some wonderful overdrive's this chased from my board. With the additional (optional) foot switch it gives me two versions of the most articulate overdrive I'd ever imagined. I didn't think overdrive could have such beauty.

The JHS Morning Glory does exactly what i need it to do. I would highly recommend it to anyone who needs a good transparent overdrive that can also produce some awesome heavier driven tones with the Red switch side engaged.

This pedal is amazing! The sound/tone was so unexpected, extremely better than I thought it would end up being. This is my third JHS pedal and is now my favorite. I highly recommend this pedal!

I own about 30-40 pedals with most of them being overdrive/distortion/ fuzz category, and this is now my favorite one. It makes your tube amp sound it's best, and has so much clarity. You can even crank up the drive and adjust your tone knobs on your humbuckers to get a zeppelin tone. I stack this first in my signal chain on a twin reverb, and it sounds fantastic with lower drive settings to make the cleans sound less flat as well. There is a lot of versatility with this pedal and it plays well with all my tube amps, both the pedal platforms and the high gain amps.

This is going to form the basis of my tone on my new pedal board build. Glad I picked it up!

I hate the term "transparent overdrive". That said, this is the closest pedal I've found to being transparent. At home I'm able to simulate the sound of my Princeton at it's sweet spot at a reasonable volume. When the amp is already at the sweet spot, it serves as an amazing boost to take you above the mix without drastically changing the character of your tone. I run this before a K-style boost and together they give me great range of tones. Thanks to my Sales Engineer, Austin Zachrich for getting it sent out in a timely manner! Another great Sweetwater experience!

This is easily the overall best overdrive on my board. I sold a v3 a year ago only to find myself buying a v4. The red switch is a game changer. The pedal stays on with another BB style pedal, and the red switch is used for solos. You owe it to yourself to add this pedal to your collection. Give Sam a call, and order one. Don't argue, just do it.

I think JHS statement about this pedal sums it up the best. transparent low medium gain overdrive that never gets in the way. The overdrive you always wanted but could never find. This is true in my experience I’ve had several overdrive pedal’s and they never quite do what I wanted them to do this one does and I am glad I found it.

It"ll never leave my board

If I could have one pedal only, it would be this one! I mainly play professionally for churches and use this as a first stage, always on, overdrive. It is super clear and adds an amazing lift to your sound, but it also has the ability to get cranked and dirty if you desire that. I put it after my P.O.G and compressor in the chain signal. This is a must have pedal!

I play mathy/proggy/noisy Indie Pop, and my guitar tone tone tends to start either clean or just slightly over-driven. The Morning Glory is by far the best OD for what I wanted, which was to have the same character to my tone between clean and over-driven. No weird EQ changes, no issues with modulation or compression effects, just a very smooth over-driven tone. Cannot recommend enough.

I upgraded from a Marshall Bluesbreaker, which this pedal is modeled after, and I am so thankful I did. I have a Boss ES8 (which I also love) that I connected to the red input switch. Before I had 3 gain stages, but with the ability for the es8 to switch the pedal for me, I have 4. The improvements are as listed:
1. Much better head room(which is important to me because I use overdrives to boost a little and push the amp)
2. The tone knob is much more drastic
3. I"ve noticed a little less noise
4. The red switch to control the gain is incredible
5. A smaller foot print than the original bb1

Glory morning noon and night! This pedal is amazing. I was comparing it to a Wampler Tumnus Delux. There was no comparison. The Tumnus has a high noise floor in comparison. I used it on my Mesa CA 6v6 Tweed. Match made in heaven. It gives that crunchy push yet maintains that amazing Tweed tone. Very versatile pedal that can take you to from light clean boost all the way to a hard drive. It also plays well with other pedals. I paired it with my Boss Waza delay and MXR Chorus without a hickup. It also worked well with my Exotic SP compressor. The build quality is exceptional.

One of the best pedal purchases I've made. If you love your tone this will give it to you on steroids. I have tried all the Klon clones and even if this is not touted as one it delivers in spades wher I found all others lacking in some respect.

The JHS Morning Glory V4 is a great transparent overdrive with two levels of boost. It does exactly what it's supposed to do - give your sound more "meat' without imparting too much distortion or overdrive. Unless I'm going for a very clean sound, or kicking in my Friedman BE-OD for major crunch, I always have this pedal on. It has great versatility and bridges the gap between the two sounds. Go for the little Red Remote too. It's a great convenience, takes up very little space on the board and requires no power. Go ahead and bridge the gap - you'll be glad you did!

This pedal is amazing, not just hype! It has such a smooth and dialed presence to it, it just makes your guitar and amp sound good! It is pretty transparent overall, and stacks really well with other pedals. Super easy to dial in a good set it and forget sound. The higher gain channel with the red remote is a must and gives you more drive and a small boost, great for solos or certain parts in a song. There are many other great pedals out there, but this one should be at the top of your list to have. If you've been eyeing this pedal, and have the cash, do it, you won't regret it! Don't forget to order the Red remote! Thanks Dustin for your recommendation!

Two pedals in one. Great transparent pedal, the only one so far to bet out my Tumnus. Warm round sound an get the extra red foot switch to boost it for leads or just another great tone. A true must have.

The JHS Morning Glory V4 was recommended to me through Sweetwater to pair with my Roland Jazz Chorus JC-40. I knew I wasn't going to be driving tubes in a solid state amplifier, so I wanted something to add its own light distortion and breakup. Some of the YouTube reviews I had watched made the pedal sound shrill and gratey, but through my JC-40 the overdrive sounds natural and authentic. I think as long as you remember to dial the tone knob back when you turn up the gain you should be good. The hi-cut switch on the side should help with that as well, but I haven't needed to use it yet. My favorite part about the pedal is how touch-sensitive it is. When you lay into the strings you get more shimmer, but when you pull back it seems to clean up nicely. Also, the "red" gain mode adds some volume and texture, so I can see it working as a boost for solos, which I'm looking forward to using. Overall, I was looking for a pedal to add some proper "sick" to an otherwise sterile solid state amplifier, and the Morning Glory v4 delivers in a very satisfying way! Big ups to Nicholas at Sweetwater!

I love this pedal - I"ve had it for almost a year now and it"s my go-to overdrive. Low-medium gain, very clear and doesn"t get in the way of the amp/guitar sound. Perfect for good single coil/smaller tube combo tones. Great build quality and looks beautiful. My #1 drive.

In my mind, adding effects to guitars is like adding spice to great food; just the right amount can greatly enhance the output but too much overwhelms and turns it into something else. This pedal adds the right amount of presence without corrupting the great sound I have come to know from my guitars. You can gain it up and get dirt you need when you need it but you don't loose the character of the guitar in the process.

This is the one pedal I can leave switched in always and it always provides just the spice I want.

One of the better looking pedals on my board. I picked this up to use as a clean boost, but engaging the boost with the JHS Red Remote (you can find it here on sweetwater.com) kicks it into higher gain for leads

This is great. Totally transparent and versitale. Great for any time of music on stage 1 overdrive.

The best pedal!!!

Is one of the greatest pedals I ever heard, sound great I love it!!!

I've owned several "transparent" overdrive pedals and have not being satisfied with any of them. So I decided to give the slightly pricier JHs Morning Glory a shot. I was instantly impressed! The tones were unlike anything I've owned before. Such rich and creamy tone. With the 2 stages of overdrive now available in the V4, there is even more range. I'm convinced that this is the best transparent overdrive pedal out there. It's definitely tops for the genre I play, contemporary worship music.

Best transparent / KLON type overdrive tone I've heard from a pedal. I can dial in just the right amount of gain and I love that I has two different switchable gain levels. Perfect for not blowing everyone off stage but getting that good low to high volume crunch!

I love my Morning Glory! It's my "always on" OD. The Little Red Remote function is awesome. Match this with a Tele and a Blues Junior and your in heaven!

The Morning Glory (MG) is the best the overdrive pedal I have ever owned. I've owned numerous TS style and expensive boutique overdrives over the years and none of them have ever come close to the transparent tone found in the MG. Complex and open chords sound wonderful without ever getting muddy while there is still more than enough gain on tap for handle hard rock power chords. In addition, the MG is dead quiet on my powered board. None of the demos I've seen online really do justice to the exquisite tone captured in this pedal. Just the perfect amount of sag and touch sensitivity that lets you control the amount of overdrive through your fingers alone. I highly recommend the MG to anyone that seeks to expand their musical horizons through inspiring tone.

I cannot say enough about this pedal...I own two of them if that tells you anything. I use one of the hard rock stuff I do and the V4 for the worship stuff I do as well (the V4 is absolutely amazing for having a 2-1 gain structure for extra punch when you need it). The pedal NEVER gets in the way of your original tone but adds just enough body and punch as needed. Transparent is definitely an over used word nowadays but there's a reason why it's in the name. One of my top 5 go to pedals of all time. Highly recommend this.

This is the best overdrive I've ever played, this pedal was an excellent choice to buy so glad I purchased it, I hope the JHS Moonshine will be as good as this one.

I typically don't give 5 star rating for anything....but this one deserves it! I had a couple of bucks in my pocket and found a deal on the Morning Glory and basically bought it without hearing it. Man, was I ever surprised. This is the most transparent OD I've ever heard. It is perfect with single coils, and especially my Tele with Joe Barden pickups. Wow. The box is built tough and there are no clicks and pops when you engage the switch. However, I found that I just typically leave this one on all of the time with a subtle amount of drive engaged. It seems to take the thickness out of the tone, gives it a little compression, and makes your tone fit nicely in the mix. The two ODs on my analog board are the Morning Glory and the Xotic BB. That pretty much helps me cover it all.
Well done JHS.

This is a great pedal. I'm using it into a already dirty amp as a overdrive. It doesn't color the sound of your amp like most Tube Screamer type pedals. It doesn't have a mid bump and it doesn't suck all your low end out.

So I've heard a lot about the morning glory, but wasn't sure if it was right for me. I own other Jhs pedals and love them, and in search of the tone I had in my head I kept coming back to it. So I finally decided to pull the trigger and try it out. Best decision ever! I absolutely love the tone I get with this pedal through my ac15. I also want to give a huge shout out to Brock Andrews for taking the time to listen to my ramblings while trying to describe the tone I heard in my head, and helping me decide to give the morning glory a try!

I bought the demo version of this pedal and it is amazing. It is the best overdrive pedal that I have used. It is extremely transparent and really just gives your tone a boost of a little gain. This is excellent for a clean boost or a light overdrive. This pedal stacks great with my stage 2 overdrive, a JHS Twin Twelve. If anyone is looking for an overdrive pedal, this is a must have. I play worship music and this paired with my Ernie Ball Stingray guitar and Vox ac15 is a match made in heaven.

This overdrive is a most keep. Im using a Vox AC 30 Handwired version And also a Fender Hot Rod DeVille 410. This overdrive is the tone I was looking for. If you want to get a clean overdrive that keep the original sound and character of your guitar, this is the one you need to get.

I knew this pedal would be good but it's better than that. It really blew me away. I swear it's like playing an amp. It's that sensitive and dynamic. Great as a boost. To me, it's perfect for that extra shimmer and bright but musical high end. It can sound JUST like a blues breaker or a cranked twin. I use it on my clean channel only and it really brought my amp to life. It's a staple in my book. Great job jhs

You have a toggle with two Gain stages to choose "Down" = blue LED and normal Gain and "Up" = red LED with higher Gain. Both are good and the higher gain stage ("Up" + red LED) doesn't produce as much feedback with the gain dialed to max, nice bonus. I've only had it for over a week but I do like dialing the Volume to about 2 o'clock, which pushes the Drive control nice on either Gain stage. I use a Strat (single coil setup) and it pairs very well with it, no doubt it pairs well with humbuckers, too. The range of the Gain control is good, as is the range on the Tone control between dark and bright. It definitely gives me some nice dirt tones I otherwise I cannot quite replicate with other OD's I own, and that's why I like it. I haven't stacked it with any other OD, distortion, or fuzz yet, but I'm sure like most overdrive pedals it will stack just fine.

I love the morning glory for low gain sounds that don't alter my sound. A great Bluesbreaker style pedal.

This is a great pedal!!! It takes the sound of your amp and it adds a nice crispy, chimey, slinky sound!!! The only thing I don't like is the footswitch. It doesn't like crunch when you press it. So it feels like you didn't turn it on. That's my only thing I did not like! Everything else sound wise is fantastic!

thank you jhs.
just what i was looking for :)

Used as an overdrive into an already overdriving amp the Morning Glory gives a sound in the same ballpark as a Tube Screamer but with less of a midrange bump and more clarity. In that sense I can see why it is marketed as "transparent." It also works as a standalone dirt box into a clean amp with the gain of the pedal up. I found the lower gain mode more useful as the higher gain "red" mode seems overly compressed to my ears. The build quality is high. The pedal is also surprisingly light weight. The brushed gold finish is distinctive and unique.

One of the better choices for a clean boost/OD. Different then a Bluesbreaker and not a fuzz, so it's kind of in a different class. Great for Tele/Strat. Works well with an LP. This one will NOT go on the shelf.

This is a sweet sounding pedal. Does it sound as good as other transparent overdrives that cost three to five times as much? Nope. But for the price, this is as good a vibe and quality as I've heard. Don't believe the hype: this overdrive DOES reduce the richness and depth of your tone. But the way it does that is extremely pleasant-sounding and a very cool vibe. I love this thing.

I've tried many ODs and keep coming back to this one. It's not perfect (which is why I keep trying others) but it's close. I like it with the gain switch on high but the drive knob down at 9 o clock. At this setting it only overdrive when I play hard. I've got p90s and not many pedals like them.

This pedal is great. Very transparent, very clear, not muddy at all. I find that this pedal is best suited for a guitar with humbuckers as opposed to single coil. Now, I was surprised to find out something that was unexpected: When I roll down the gain knob all the way down, it changes the tone of the guitar. Sounds a lot more darker. I was expecting the gain knob, out of all things, not to change the tone of the guitar at all. However, This problem is fixed simply by raising the tone knob. I found my sweet spot for the tone knob around 1-2 o'clock. besides this, I'm really enjoying this pedal! Can''t wait to put it on my board and take it to church to see how it sounds with the rest of the band!

Absolutely love this pedal for edge-of-breakup. It doesn't so much sound like a pedal or an OD to me, just completes my tone. It's an always on for me. Particularly pairs nicely with my PRS cu24 and lace sensor equipped Strat. Just wow. Luckily for me those are my two main guitars but would point out it doesn't seem to play as nice (to my ears) with my jazzmaster or Ibanez AS semi hollow.

The morning glory itself as an audio product is phenomenal. It's become a nearly always on effect in my rig, providing just that little bit of razzle to thicken and saturate my sound. Frankly, I never use it for anything other than very low gain grit, because it's all I ever really need from it. And although the higher gain settings sound perfectly palatable, I would usually rather use another overdrive with more effective tone sculpting and keep the morning glory on underneath.

So I love the thing. It's great, but it appears that JHS may have a slight quality assurance consistency issue with their powder coating process - or whatever is used for the finish of this pedal enclosure.

In photos, the morning glory looks like it be a rather brilliant, almost flaky gold. And on my pedal, the backplate is, but the bulk of the enclosure is a more disappointing, somewhat muddy brown color. Which wouldn't be so bad if at least the two pieces were consistent with each other. At least then, I wouldn't have to know that the front could have looked cleaner.

But it's just aesthetic and I can't imagine every pedal is like this. Otherwise, it sounds fantastic and that's what's important.

Can we get an industry wide definition on transparent effects? I think I may have figured out a better term for me and that is Flat EQ. There is a noticeable midrange bump when this pedal is engaged. With a pre amp I am able to shape the mids to my liking. And when I do that I like the break up this pedal offers. I am also running this pedal into a Wampler Plexi Drive to pop the leads out in a mix and they seem to work well together.

There's a thousand distortion pedals in the market because there's thousands of distortion pallets to please. If you're one that admires distinct notes (soloing) or when chording you desire to hear the minor 9ths, suspended 4ths, or major 7ths; then you need this pedal in your armor. For an added boost, get the Red Button switch accessory, highly recommended.

I love the sound of the JHS Morning Glory 4. It takes a nice clean signal and lets you dial n just the right amount of overdrive. Very pristine. Does not muddy it up at all. I am working from a Les Paul with the Fender Blues junior 3 run clean. What I am confused about is that when I select the boost switch I don't hear any volume difference. It says it boosts the low end and high end so maybe that's the way it's supposed to be but I am used to some sort of Db gain on a boost switch. The effect is amazing in itself but I am disappointed with the boost switch.

Before you kill me, just know, I get why people dig this thing so much. It's a good pedal, sounds great, but I personally think it's overrated. I like it, but I don't love it. (Though I'm glad it's brought so many people so much joy), this is just my opinion. It's a fun pedal to play with, but it didn't last too long on my board. I bought the vertex Steel String MKII and that one stole my heart. The MG is great, but when it comes to "transparent overdrive" I prefer a pedal to have an actual clean blend knob, and I think there are better options for the same price or less. In my opinion, there's no better transparent OD than the Steel String. This one is fine, but I really don't think it's anything to write home about. That being said, some people will play this and love it. That's just my opinion. If you are in the market for Transparent OD's I highly recommend giving the Vertex SS a shot before spending $ on this.

I'm embarrassed how many of my pedals are JHS. So, when the time came for a 'transparent overdrive', I bought the Jackson Golden Boy, which had been hyped as the Second Coming of OD boxes.

Boy, was I disappointed! So, I threw down for this puppy and compared 'em both, on my pedalboard, through my switcher, my wiring, into my amp, and it was night and day! The Morning Glory is lush, rich, and most importantly, TRANSPARENT, which the Golden Boy was most assuredly NOT! It sounds thin, brittle, and shrill compared to the Morning Glory. Not worthy of shining the MG's shoes!

The Morning Glory just makes my rig sound better. It makes all of my guitars sound better. And the boost, with the high-cutoff is very usable.

All of my JHS pedals except the colourbox have footswitch controllable boost, so I can boost anywhere, in any gain stage, in whatever pedal order (my switcher, a Boss ES8, lets me change pedal order). It is VERY handy that they're throwing extra dirt circuits in all of their stuff!

Only 4 stars because this has two things I don't like, and they apply to just about all JHS pedals: 1) I want the jacks on the top end, not the sides, dudes! 2) I want a MIDI-controllable bypass. (If every dumb pedal had a MIDI bypass, many people wouldn't need a fancy switcher, they'd just need a simple MIDI controller like a Morningstar to turn their effects on and off in the chain).

But I digress...

The MG just delivers. It sounds warm, natural, is touch-sensitive, has a usable and musical boost circuit.

It sounds and feels like an amp when it's set at clean-to-break. It gives me more girth, replete with subtle pleasing harmonic sweetness, without a loss of clarity, without brittleness, and without low-end flub.

And then it gives me some major gain when I want to solo.

It does its job impeccably and completely, without fuss, and with easy, useful and useable controls.

What more could I ask for?

This pedal has a nice tone, the drive is amp-like and transparent. That said, my unit is either defective or this product is very noisy.

The other OD pedals I use are Cailinbread Dirty Little Secret and Wampler Black 65....both much quieter than this.

I was interested in a low gain, transparent overdrive. This was recommend by my Sweetwater sales engineer. Did what it was supposed to but with a very loud hiss and high frequency noise. Of course Sweetwater was right on with a replacement but it had the same issues. So that is two sent back. I ended going with my first choice and got he Friedman Golden Pearl. Not a good first experience with JHS Pedals.

Tested it on 3 different amps and tweaked all settings. There was an uncontrollable piercingly sharp feedback sound at all times. Don't waste your money on this thing.