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Morning Glory V4

Morning Glory V4

Scored on 53 verified owner verdicts, from 712 comments read across 1 community
TL;DR
Owners split sharply on the Morning Glory V4, and the divide comes down almost entirely to treble. The players who keep it describe an always-on low-gain drive that stays on the board for years, adding sparkle and edge-of-breakup while leaving the amp's own voice intact, and it stacks happily in front of or behind other dirt. The ones who moved it on heard that same voicing as thin, bright and mid-honky, with too much low end shaved away, and several found the higher gain settings turn shrill even with the high-cut switch engaged. It lands best with single coils and Fender-style cleans, and a lot of owners who ran it beside a Lightspeed, Timmy or Prince of Tone ended up keeping the other pedal.

45% of 53 verified owners recommend the Morning Glory V4, based on real owner verdicts aggregated from Reddit, enthusiast forums, and YouTube.

See the problems 11 owners report →

What 53 owners say
712 comments reviewed · scored on the 53 clearest verdicts
45%
Recommend
24 owners
34%
Neutral
18 owners
21%
Don't recommend
11 owners
Last 6 months:43% recommend(14 recent verdicts)→ holding steady vs older reviews
Source
Score
N
Counted in the score
Reddit
45%
53
Reviewed, but not counted — and why
No clear verdictiSetup, tips & quirks
51

The headline score reflects owners (Reddit, enthusiast forums), independent lab tests, blogs with no affiliate links, and YouTube owner-comments when they line up with owners. is shown for perspective but kept out here — hover the i for why.

What owners like
  • Holds up as an always-on low-gain drive that owners leave on the board for years
  • Adds clarity and edge-of-breakup without covering up the amp's character
  • Stacks well in front of or behind other overdrives, fuzz and boosts
  • Red Remote adds a second, hotter gain setting on a footswitch
What owners flag
  • Bright and treble-forward, and the higher gain side can turn shrill
  • Thins out the low end, which shows up most on bass and on already-lean rigs
  • Not the Marshall Bluesbreaker voice some buyers expect from the circuit
  • Plenty of owners preferred a rival low-gain drive and sold this one on
Who it's for
A great fit if
  • Players who want one always-on low-gain drive that lives on the board
  • Single coils into Fender-style clean amps, Strat into a Deluxe Reverb territory
  • Boards where the overdrive has to stack with other dirt pedals or feed a fuzz
  • Clean-to-breakup jangle and power pop, where a bit of extra sparkle helps
Look elsewhere if
  • Anyone chasing a warm, dark, mid-heavy overdrive
  • Already-bright rigs, or humbuckers into a scooped amp where owners lose it in the mix
  • Players who want an authentic Marshall Bluesbreaker sound
  • Higher-gain use, since owners report the top of the drive range going shrill

Synthesized from what Morning Glory V4 owners say — not a spec sheet.

Top quotes, sourced

712 reviewed · 53 shown
Sentiment
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Reddit— neutral

Between the two, I tend to keep the MG on my board more than the Timmy. They're both great pedals and you can 't go wrong I don't think. But I've replaced both with a Browne Protein.

Reddit▲ recommend

I've got both and right now the MG is on the board. I love them both dearly, but the MG sounds a bit gnarlier to my ear, just a touch more breakup, which is what I want right now.

Reddit▼ don’t recommend

I do not like the Morning Glory, although that could be me being a cork-sniffer wrt bluesbreaker pedals. There are better options out there for that type of circuit, especially these days

Reddit▼ don’t recommend

There were times I thought it sounded great but I'd go back to it the next day and the Morning Glory would always sound too treble forward for my setup even with the side switch engaged so I sold mine on.

Reddit▲ recommend

Morning Glory is great as a low gain always on. I forced myself to take it off my board because it was keeping me from learning how to use my other boost/tone-shaping pedals lol.

Reddit— neutral

The Morning Glory has just slightly pronounced mids that I like but can get very bright if you're not careful. Good low gain, but I didn't care for the mid/higher gain settings.

Reddit— neutral

It's a good pedal but you have to like the bluesbreaker style circuit. I liked it overall but found it slightly too low gain and compressed compared to my Klone and Honey Bee overdrive.

Reddit▲ recommend

Best overdrive I’ve ever owned. I use it to boost, use it as a light gain overdrive, use it to stack, and use it to go into modulation, delay and reverb without overpowering the sound.

Reddit▼ don’t recommend

The Lightspeed sits better in the mix and doesn’t have a weird harshness that the MG sometimes brings to the table, depending on your guitar/amp setup.

Reddit▲ recommend

MG always on with the Drive knob around 11-12 before a Benson Preamp with knobs between 1-3 before a Hawaiian Pizza with everything around 1-2 has the perfect punchy crunch sound I’m looking for.

Reddit— neutral

Well, it’s weird. I love the clarity, but the other pedals sound more amp-like _because_ they are less clear, if that makes any sense.

Reddit▼ don’t recommend

Maybe I just don’t know how to best use it but I’ve never had any luck with my morning glory versus my Glove or Green Rhino.

Reddit▼ don’t recommend

I've owned all three and the Lightspeed is the best. I found the JHS to be a little thin and trebly sounding.

Reddit— neutral

Morning Glory is a good entry point, but you might flip it in favor of a Limelight, Del Mar, Prince of Tone, or Carbon down the line.

Reddit▲ recommend

I love It because of my power pop obsession, It is the perfect overdrive for those clean jangly tones. If you are into heavier stuff I would chose other pedals.

Reddit— neutral

As an always on edge of break-up pedal, the Clean is a cut above the V4 as it gives you the ability to blend in your clean signal, saving the bottom end. I run this in to the V4 with the red remote and the gain fairly high for leads.

Reddit▼ don’t recommend

I find the MG too bright, so I end up using only a small fraction of the tone control’s range.

Reddit▲ recommend

I currently use the MGV4 as I feel it has just enough unique voice to stand alone but also stacks very well, and the red remote feature really adds versatility.

Reddit▲ recommend

YES, YES, YES. The JHS morning glory is truly amazing. For completeness, I must say that it’s a pedal that enhances your amp’s sound. It does not change it.

Reddit— neutral

just be warned: red remote provides SIGNIFICANT volume boost. i didnt know that going in. even as a lead boost its very loud.

Reddit▼ don’t recommend

The morning glory just didn’t do “it” for me, while the others won’t be leaving the stable.

Reddit— neutral

The Timmy and Morning Glory sound better when blended with the amps dial gain dial on my Vox Ac10C1, still prefer the Belle.

Reddit▲ recommend

The Morning Glory V4 is the only OD that has stayed on my board through dozens of dirt pedal purchases. It sounds fantastic with all my guitars and amp.

Reddit▼ don’t recommend

I personally really disliked the MG. It has a mid hump that was really unappealing to me.

Showing 124 of 53

Common problems & things to know

Practical notes owners raise — setup, quirks, and issues to watch for. They don't say whether the person likes the product, so they're not counted in the score, but they inform the pros, cons, and who it's for.

Redditⓘ good to know

I had this exact issue recently. It was intermittent, and playing with/jiggling with the footswitch sometimes got some signal to pass. I ended up replacing the FS and all is well now.

Redditⓘ good to know

The morning glory was one of the few pedals, out of 400 tested, that when hooked up to my oscilloscope tripped the over voltage warning constantly until turned down to 9 oclock.

Redditⓘ good to know

I have a warmer drive before my morning glory, and I've set everything so I can use the morning glory separately (for a brighter sound) or the 2 drives stacked together (fuller and thicker together)

Redditⓘ good to know

I just got a MG for christmas and I’ve noticed a slight delay as well when pressing the foot switch. I haven’t heard of the issue before so either just ours are defective or that’s how they all are🤷🏽‍♂️

Redditⓘ good to know

Weird. I'm late to the party looking into things after my first session with a MG and I found the with the gain all the way down, unity was like 1 o'clock. AS I turn the gain up, obvs I can back off the volume a bit.

Redditⓘ good to know

Greer Lightspeed gets my vote. Dynamic and sounds good across the dials. MG has more bite to it, if that’s what you’re after.

Redditⓘ good to know

The MG does cut a bit of lows on bass. That's the nature of Bluesbreaker circuits. But the MG Clean fixes that. The only concern is if you have a high output bass that can clip the clean side. Two of my basses do, but they are hot, active basses.

Redditⓘ good to know

I use the morning glory at around 11 o'clock drive on the low setting as my always on drive, then a Rat clone as my heavier drive. I know Josh from JHS likes Klon styles with heavier gain settings, might be worth trying the MG into a higher gain Klone.

Redditⓘ good to know

I'm finding it hits unity gain for my playing around 9 o'clock. Crazy. So much volume left to try.

Redditⓘ good to know

I've tried the Morning Glory with a Maxon OD808 and wasn't too impressed, I'm sure the Bonsai has modes with more gain than the 808 though. They're both similar enough they stack well and I'm sure they'd make a good rhythm/lead combo if you're into the Morning Glory.

Redditⓘ good to know

Little sad they rid of the high and low gain— I use the remote all the time for it!

Redditⓘ good to know

I use the MG as an always on pedal on the blue setting at about about noon across the board (depends on pickups). I use red remote on the MG to go to the red setting for slightly higher gain. Then, for next level gain, I have the MG stacked with a Klone (Emerson Custom Goldenface).

Redditⓘ good to know

I use my mine first in the chain and it’s always on in the blue setting to warm up my clean tone. I have an EQD Plumes next on pretty high gain/low tone as the first step in my gain “stage”. I’m also trying out a jhs 3 series chorus in front of everything just to have a different texture.