JHS Morning Glory Clean
When Transparent Overdrive Is Not Good Enough
We took our most legendary overdrive to a new level and redefined what it means to be transparent. Clearer pick attack, improved low end, and more versatile gain stacking.
This is the ultimate first-stage overdrive pedal.
It Started at Sound Check
I watched Julian Lage dial in his tone at a soundcheck in Chicago. Vintage Fender amp. Collings semi-hollow guitar. He adjusted pickup heights, moved positions on stage, chasing the perfect balance. It was captivating.
Julian has used a Morning Glory for years and is a big reason it ended up on jazz pedalboards worldwide. After the soundcheck, we discussed what he looked for in an overdrive. One thing led to another. Could we make the Morning Glory even better?
The Problem with Transparent
When you add overdrive, any type of clipping, you lose nuance. Pick attack gets compressed. Dynamics narrow. All overdrives shape frequency response, even the most transparent.
We took our Morning Glory, a Bluesbreaker-style topology, and completely rebuilt it around a studio-grade parallel clean blend. Not a modification, a redesign from the ground up.
The Morning Glory magic happens when you turn up the Drive. The circuit boosts higher harmonics and adds soft compression. Jangly. Perfect in a mix. The parallel clean circuit lets you keep that while dialing the natural low end back in, all the tone and character with nothing compromised.
Not a Clean Knob Added On
The Clean control uses a dual-gang potentiometer. As you turn it, clean gain scales proportionally with the drive signal. Most clean blends are simple mix knobs added to existing circuits. This design allows both signals to track together across all gain settings with no volume jumps and no phase issues.
The power section runs on a plus and minus 9V dual supply, giving higher headroom than the original V1 circuit and other Bluesbreaker-style pedals. Think of it as the original Version 1 Morning Glory voicing with V4 engineering enhancements.
The Tone control affects only the overdrive path. The clean signal stays parallel and untouched.
Endless Headroom, Any Volume
Endless headroom delivers massive clean guitar sounds at manageable volume levels. The Morning Glory Clean provides the stiffness and authority of a high-wattage amp at the edge of breakup without extreme volume.
Think of the Clean control as adding back wattage, clarity, and punch.
It Goes on Everything
• Stacking distortion in front opens sustain instead of compressing it
• Running after delay creates series and parallel textures
• Works as a first-stage overdrive
• Works well with amp modelers including Kemper, Quad Cortex, UAD, and Helix
Bass players benefit from restored low end on demand while retaining mix-ready character. Suitable for varying basses and amplifier setups.
Who This Is Not For
This pedal is not for players seeking extreme effects, excessive controls, or highly experimental tones. It focuses on simplicity, usable sounds, and always-on performance.
Controls
• Volume — Adjusts overall output level in conjunction with Drive and Clean
• Clean — Full left original Morning Glory tone. Full right pure clean signal. Start with Clean and Drive at maximum, then dial Clean counterclockwise to balance
• Drive — Controls saturation. Designed to be used with the Clean control for balance
• Tone — Classic Morning Glory tone stack affecting only the drive path. Back for warmth, forward for clarity
Clean Boost Pro Tip
Set Clean fully clockwise and increase Drive. This configuration produces clean volume boost without overdrive clipping.
Specifications
• Plus and minus 9V dual supply for high headroom
• Top-mounted jacks
• 9V DC center negative power
• Silent buffered bypass switching
• Dimensions 2.6 in x 4.8 in x 1.6 in
• Current draw 60 mA
• Do not exceed 9V DC to avoid damage and voided warranty
