There is a dirty secret lurking inside the pedalboard of every serious player who has ever tried to nail a stacked-overdrive tone: two great pedals don’t automatically make one great combination. Order matters. Voicing compatibility matters. Gain staging between the two circuits matters more than either setting on its own. Most guitarists learn this the expensive way — chasing a stacked sound by buying two separate pedals, wiring them together, and discovering that the wrong order turns a layered, singing tone into an indistinct mush.
JHS Pedals solved that problem with the Double Barrel. Not by making the decision for you, but by engineering both pedals into a single chassis and installing a toggle switch that flips the signal path in real time. Want the Morning Glory V4 hitting the front of the Moonshine V2? One switch. Want it reversed? One switch. Want only the Moonshine? One footswitch. Want only the Morning Glory? The other footswitch. The Double Barrel V4 gives you every combination, cleanly wired, with no latency penalty and no patch cable between them.
The V4 is the final evolution of the Double Barrel line. It packages the latest-generation Morning Glory V4 — the transparent-overdrive circuit built for touch dynamics and amp-like breakup — alongside the Moonshine V2, JHS’s most capable take on the TS-808 architecture. Both circuits were already proven standalone pedals. Combined in the Double Barrel V4, they become something else: a dual-channel overdrive with five distinct tonal configurations accessible on the fly, each of them legitimately useful, none of them a compromise.
History and Evolution: From the First Barrel to the Fourth
The Double Barrel concept dates back to the early JHS Pedals catalog, when Josh Scott’s Kansas City operation was still operating out of considerably tighter quarters than the current facility. The original idea was straightforward: pair two of JHS’s most popular individual circuits in one enclosure, give each its own set of controls, and add an order toggle to make the stacking relationship adjustable. That idea was good enough to survive four major iterations without fundamental revision — the execution just kept getting better as the individual circuits evolved.
The V1 and V2 Double Barrel paired earlier-generation JHS circuits. The V3 brought meaningful improvements as the individual designs were updated. The V4, released around 2018–2019, represented a complete refresh: the Morning Glory circuit reached its V4 specification — including the new Hi-Gain toggle controlled via the JHS Red Remote — and the Moonshine circuit hit V2, gaining the Clean blend knob that became arguably its most significant upgrade. Those two improvements converged in the Double Barrel V4 and made it the most versatile version of the pedal by a significant margin.
The Double Barrel V4 has since been discontinued by JHS, though it remains available through dealers clearing remaining stock and on the used market. For players who want it, the current window is the used market rather than new retail. That’s worth flagging upfront rather than burying at the end of a buying guide.
The Two Circuits Explained
Left Side: Morning Glory V4 — Transparent Overdrive with a High-Gain Mode
The Morning Glory has become one of JHS’s signature pedals, and the V4 is the refined endpoint of that design. Its circuit architecture draws from a modified Boss Blues Driver lineage — producing a low-to-mid-gain overdrive character that JHS describes as “transparent,” meaning it preserves the core tone of your guitar and amplifier rather than imprinting its own heavy coloration on top. That description is accurate in the sense that the Morning Glory does not push a heavy mid-forward sound like a standard Tube Screamer. It has a slightly open, slightly sparkly character that adds grit without fundamentally reshaping the frequency picture.
The V4 update added the Hi-Gain toggle, which engages an additional gain stage for a significantly more driven response. In standard mode, the Morning Glory V4 covers everything from a very light edge-of-breakup all the way to a moderate crunch that pairs naturally with single-coil pickups. In Hi-Gain mode, that range extends considerably — it covers bridge-humbucker lead territory, and when stacked into the Moonshine with Hi-Gain engaged, the combined output can push into hard rock gain levels that neither circuit approaches on its own.
The Red Remote input on the Morning Glory side accepts a standard TRS cable connected to the JHS Red Remote pedal (sold separately), allowing you to toggle the Hi-Gain mode with an external footswitch rather than reaching down to the toggle by hand. For live playing, this means you can switch the Morning Glory between its two gain states mid-song without any tap-dancing — it’s effectively a three-channel system when you count both Double Barrel footswitches plus the external Hi-Gain footswitch.
Right Side: Moonshine V2 — TS-808 Architecture with a Charge Pump and Clean Blend
The Moonshine V2 takes the Tube Screamer circuit as its foundation and pushes it considerably further than the original. The most technically distinctive aspect of the Moonshine V2 is its internal 9V-to-18V charge pump. You power it with a standard 9V supply, and the circuit internally doubles that voltage to 18V for its operating headroom. The practical result is a significantly larger dynamic range than a standard TS-808 — the headroom ceiling is higher, low-end response is fuller, and the overall punch is more assertive.
The Clean knob, added in the V2 revision, lets you blend your dry, unaffected signal in parallel with the overdriven output. At noon, you get a roughly equal blend; rolled back, the overdrive character dominates; rolled forward, the clean signal becomes predominant and the overdrive becomes a texture layered over your natural tone. This blending approach is particularly effective for keeping low-end definition when running the Moonshine into single-coil guitars, where TS-style mid-emphasis can make the overall tone feel thin without some dry signal reinforcing the fundamentals.
The Proof toggle switches between two voicings: in the down position, the Moonshine V2 runs with maximum saturation — more compressed, more sustaining, more opaque. In the up position, the circuit opens up with more headroom, cleaner frequency response, and more sensitivity to picking dynamics. Think of it roughly as the difference between a stage sound at unity and a studio sound with extra transient clarity. Most players use the down position for rhythm work where sustain and body matter and the up position for lead lines where attack articulation and clarity count for more.
The Order Toggle: The Double Barrel’s Most Important Feature
The order toggle sits at the center of the Double Barrel V4 layout and is ultimately the reason the pedal justifies its existence as a combined unit rather than two individual pedals on a board. It switches which circuit appears first in the signal path — Morning Glory into Moonshine, or Moonshine into Morning Glory — and the difference between those two configurations is substantial enough to count as two genuinely different pedal combinations.
Morning Glory into Moonshine is the more common configuration and generally the more versatile one. The Morning Glory’s transparent gain character hits the Moonshine’s mid-emphasis circuit first, adding grit and body before the Moonshine shapes the frequency response with its characteristic mid push. The result is a layered overdrive that retains some of the Morning Glory’s open quality while gaining the Moonshine’s warm sustain. For clean-amp players who want layered breakup without losing definition, this is typically the preferred order.
Moonshine into Morning Glory reverses the equation. The TS-style mid-emphasis and gain compression of the Moonshine circuit hit the signal first, then the Morning Glory adds its transparent grit on top. This configuration tends to produce a more focused, tighter tone with more pronounced upper-harmonic detail. It works particularly well with humbuckers, where the Moonshine’s mid-push helps cut through without the Morning Glory’s transparency getting lost in the lower frequencies that humbuckers naturally emphasize. Lead guitarists running into a relatively clean amp often prefer this order for its definition and projection.
In either order, engage both circuits: that is where the Double Barrel V4 shows you what it can do that no amount of individual-pedal research would predict. The two circuits interact in a way that the sum genuinely exceeds its parts — not in marketing language, but in the practical experience of what you hear when both footswitches are engaged and the combined gain staging hits your amp. The frequency balance, the compression characteristic, the sustain, all shift in a way that would require a third pedal to approach with individual units.
Specifications
Famous Players
Equipboard lists four pro artists using the JHS Double Barrel V4, including Ted Leo, Maguro Taniguchi, and Eirik Stordrange, along with one additional user. These are Equipboard-documented entries without independent rig-rundown or magazine-interview confirmation at the level found for the individual Morning Glory and Moonshine circuits.
Ted Leo — vocalist, guitarist, and primary creative force behind Ted Leo and the Pharmacists — is the most notable of these. His photograph taken at the White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, New Jersey on November 13, 2024, shows the Double Barrel V4 on his active pedalboard. Leo’s project sits at the nexus of post-punk, new wave, and indie rock — a context where mid-gain layered overdrive serves both the rhythm-work clarity and the lead-guitar definition his live sound requires. His use of the Double Barrel V4 is photo-documented on Equipboard without an accompanying primary-source interview or rig rundown, which is worth acknowledging.
For the lineage of the individual circuits inside the Double Barrel V4, the player histories are considerably richer. The Morning Glory V4 has documented professional use across a wide range of genres and applications — its transparent overdrive character has made it a frequent choice for players who want gain without coloration. The Moonshine’s TS-808 lineage connects it to one of the most extensively documented overdrive traditions in recorded music history, covered in depth in the JHS Bonsai 9-Way Screamer and Ibanez TS9 articles.
The honest framing here is that the Double Barrel V4 is a musician’s pedal rather than an artist-association pedal — it earned its reputation through word of mouth in the working-guitarist community, not through a prominent rig rundown or signature connection. That does not diminish what it does sonically, but it is worth understanding before you buy.
Tone Recipes and Settings
The Classic Stack — Rhythm and Lead from One Pedal
Set the Moonshine V2 as your baseline rhythm tone: Drive at 10 o’clock, Tone at noon, Volume matched to unity, Clean blend at 9 o’clock, Proof toggle down for saturation. Set the Morning Glory V4 as your lead boost: Drive at 9 o’clock (very low — it’s adding to the Moonshine, not duplicating it), Tone at noon, Volume slightly above unity to push your amp harder for leads. Use the MG→MS order. Engage the Moonshine footswitch for rhythm; add the Morning Glory footswitch for leads. The Morning Glory’s small volume and gain addition onto the Moonshine’s baseline produces a natural lead voice that doesn’t require an entirely different amp channel.
Transparent Clean Boost into Tube Screamer — Open Gain Architecture
Set the Morning Glory in standard (non-Hi-Gain) mode: Drive very low, around 8–9 o’clock; Volume boosted above unity by 1–2 o’clock. Set the Moonshine: Drive at 11 o’clock, Tone at 11 o’clock, Clean blend at 10 o’clock, Proof up for maximum headroom. Use MG→MS order. The Morning Glory becomes a clean-signal boost that slams the Moonshine harder — a guitar-into-overdrive-into-another-overdrive architecture that behaves more like a parametric drive than a pure doubling of gain. The result has significant dynamic range and responds to picking velocity in a way that neither circuit achieves alone.
Hi-Gain Lead with Defined Articulation
Engage Morning Glory Hi-Gain mode. Drive at noon on the MG side, Drive at 1 o’clock on the Moonshine side, Proof toggle down, Clean blend at noon. Use MS→MG order (Moonshine first). The Moonshine’s mid-emphasis and compression anchor the low-end and give the combined tone focus; the Morning Glory Hi-Gain adds sustain and harmonic complexity on top. This combination approaches a convincing modern lead tone from a clean amplifier — closer to 15–20dB of effective gain than anything either circuit reaches individually. Controls: back off the MG Drive if it gets too opaque; the Clean blend on the Moonshine keeps low-end body as gain climbs.
Single-Circuit Applications
The Double Barrel V4 is also two excellent individual overdrives in cases where stacking isn’t the goal. The Moonshine V2 alone is particularly useful when the Clean blend knob is set to partially restore the dry signal — this produces a parallel-overdrive architecture that many compressor-style stacking applications can’t achieve. The Morning Glory alone with Hi-Gain engaged gives you a more assertive transparent-style overdrive than the standard-mode circuit, covering territory closer to a Klon-style mid-presence boost. Both work as standalone circuits without engaging the other side, and both footswitches are true-bypass independent of each other.
How the Morning Glory V4 and Moonshine V2 Compare as Standalone Pedals
Understanding what each circuit does distinctly — before considering their stacked interaction — matters for knowing which order will serve your playing style best.
The Morning Glory V4 is the transparent circuit. Its character is open, glassy, and relatively flat in its frequency shaping. It adds gain without strongly emphasizing any particular frequency band. Players who say they want their amp to sound like itself, just louder and crunchier, tend to gravitate to the Morning Glory. Its disadvantage in isolation is that it can sound thin on lower-gain settings when used with single-coils into a bright amplifier — transparency means it lets the guitar’s own tonal character dominate, which is great if that character is what you want and slightly frustrating if you need additional warmth.
The Moonshine V2 is the shaping circuit. Like the TS9 and TS808 it descends from, the Moonshine pushes upper-midrange frequencies in a way that creates cut and presence in a band context. It is a fundamentally different tool — where the Morning Glory clarifies your existing tone, the Moonshine shapes it. The Clean blend knob significantly extends the Moonshine’s utility by allowing you to moderate how much of that mid-emphasis character appears in the final output.
The Boss BD-2 Blues Driver occupies some of the same transparent-overdrive space as the Morning Glory V4, and players considering the Double Barrel V4 for its Morning Glory side often have a BD-2 in their history. The Morning Glory’s character is slightly rounder and less aggressive in its high-frequency content than the BD-2 — more fluid on the pick attack, with a sustain character that’s more amp-like on single notes. The BD-2 has more top-end presence and a more cutting character. Neither is better; they’re different tools serving somewhat different contexts.
The Double Barrel V4 vs. Buying the Pedals Separately
The economic question behind the Double Barrel V4 is real. The Morning Glory V4 alone retailed around $199. The Moonshine V2 alone was similarly priced. The Double Barrel V4 retailed around $299 — a meaningful saving over buying both pedals independently, and that’s before you factor in the additional value of the order toggle, which you cannot replicate by wiring two separate units together.
On the used market, where the Double Barrel V4 now exclusively lives, the value proposition shifts further. Finding the V4 in excellent condition for $150–$180 is realistic, and at that price, you are getting both circuits — each of which independently retails between $150–$199 used — plus the order toggle, plus the single-enclosure footprint savings on your board. The trade-off is that you cannot use one circuit while the other is on a different board. The Double Barrel V4 is a commitment to the combination. For players who have tried both circuits and want both permanently, it is an excellent commitment to make. For players still exploring whether they need both, buying the standalone pedals first makes more sense.
The JHS Bonsai and PackRat represent JHS’s multi-circuit-in-one-enclosure approach taken further — nine circuits rather than two. The Double Barrel V4’s approach is more focused: two circuits chosen specifically for stacking compatibility, developed together as a combination rather than as a museum of variations. That’s a different product philosophy, and it serves a different purchasing decision.
The JHS Red Remote System
The Red Remote input on the Morning Glory V4 side deserves its own discussion because it substantially changes the live-use profile of the Double Barrel V4. By plugging a TRS cable into the Red Remote jack and connecting the other end to the JHS Red Remote pedal (which is a separate purchase), you gain external footswitch control of the Morning Glory’s Hi-Gain toggle. This means you can:
- Keep the Double Barrel V4 at the back of your board where the knobs are accessible between songs
- Control all three gain states (both off, standard mode, Hi-Gain mode) from a separate footswitch positioned wherever it’s most comfortable
- Switch the Hi-Gain state independently of whether the Morning Glory footswitch itself is engaged
The practical result is that the Double Barrel V4 with a Red Remote pedal connected gives you a genuinely flexible live gain system. You can have your rhythm tone (Moonshine only), a lead tone (both circuits in standard mode), and a solo boost (both circuits with Hi-Gain engaged) mapped to three footswitch presses without any tap-dancing. The Red Remote integration is the same system used on the JHS Kilt V2 and other JHS designs — consistent architecture across the range that makes building a cohesive JHS-based pedalboard more predictable.
Practical Ownership Notes
Power requirements: Less than 100mA means the Double Barrel V4 fits comfortably on any standard isolated power supply output rated at 100mA or higher. The Moonshine V2 side’s internal charge pump requires a stable 9V supply — the pump does its own voltage conversion internally, so you do not need an 18V output on your power supply. A Strymon Zuma, Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2+, or equivalent with standard isolated 9V outputs handles it without issue.
The True Bypass on each footswitch independently means the two circuits do not load each other’s signal path when both are bypassed. Each footswitch takes its own circuit fully out of the signal path when disengaged. There is no buffer added when either side is bypassed, which is standard JHS practice on their analog overdrive designs.
The Moonshine V2’s charge pump produces a small amount of electrical noise in some power-supply configurations. Running the Double Barrel V4 on a quality isolated supply eliminates this in virtually all cases. Daisy-chaining power supplies increases the noise floor in charge-pump circuits generally — the same caution applies here as to any internally-boosted pedal. Budget for proper isolated power when building a board around the Double Barrel V4.
Physical footprint is compact for a dual-circuit pedal — 4.7″ × 3.7″ fits on a Pedaltrain Nano or similar small board. The enclosure size is comparable to other dual-overdrive designs and smaller than many multi-mode pedals. Two footswitches are spaced adequately for live operation without cramping.
On the used market, check that both Hi-Gain toggle and Proof toggle function correctly — these are the controls that see the most variation in used units. Verify that the order toggle audibly changes the tonal character when both circuits are engaged. A seller who cannot demonstrate both orders is a reason for additional caution. Verify the Remote Gain jack accepts a cable correctly; this is a passive jack but can develop contact issues in well-traveled units.
How the Double Barrel V4 Fits into the JHS Pedals Range
The Double Barrel V4 sits at a specific point in the JHS analog overdrive family. Below it in the product hierarchy are the individual circuit pedals — the Morning Glory V4 and Moonshine V2 as standalone units. Above it, in terms of complexity, are the multi-mode designs like the Bonsai 9-Way Screamer and PackRat, which offer more tonal variation at the cost of more decision-making.
The JHS AT+ is a useful comparison point: it’s also a dual-circuit analog drive pedal with a boost footswitch and a toggle for tonal shaping. The AT+ is a signature-driven design with a more defined tonal character and a more specific intended use. The Double Barrel V4 is more modular in philosophy — two general-purpose overdrive circuits that serve a wide variety of applications rather than one specific tonal goal.
The Angry Charlie V3 and the Double Barrel V4 occupy different gain territories that are complementary rather than competitive. The Angry Charlie handles medium-to-high British-voiced gain. The Double Barrel V4 handles low-to-medium transparent and TS-style overdrive. A board that includes both would cover the full gain spectrum from clean boost all the way to hard rock distortion without significant redundancy.
Buying Guide
The JHS Double Barrel V4 is discontinued. The JHS website confirms its placement in the discontinued and rare section, and major retailers like zZounds have listed it as no longer available. Your options in 2026 are new-old-stock units occasionally surfacing through smaller dealers (at prices ranging from $259 to $345 depending on remaining retail stock), or the used market (typically $150–$195 in excellent condition).
Used market: Reverb is the primary platform for used JHS pedals, and the Double Barrel V4 appears with reasonable frequency. Budget $155–$180 for an excellent-condition unit with original packaging; expect to pay $130–$155 for very good condition without box. Condition matters here because the order toggle is mechanical and the two footswitches see significant use on any regularly-gigged unit.
The discontinuation creates a mild timing urgency: used prices on discontinued JHS pedals tend to firm up over time as supply contracts. The Double Barrel V4 is not a rare pedal in absolute terms — JHS moved a significant quantity of them during the production run — but availability will tighten year over year. Players who are interested are better served by acting on a well-priced used example than waiting.
If the Double Barrel V4 is unavailable at a price that makes sense, the individual circuit approach — buying the Morning Glory V4 and Moonshine V2 as separate units — remains viable. You lose the order toggle functionality and pay somewhat more, but both individual circuits are still in production. For the order-toggle functionality specifically, no currently-produced pedal replicates it between these two circuits.
FAQ
What does the order toggle actually do?
It switches which circuit appears first in the signal path. In the MG→MS position, your guitar signal hits the Morning Glory first, then exits into the Moonshine. In the MS→MG position, the Moonshine processes the signal first and the Morning Glory processes its output. The difference is audible and significant: Moonshine-first produces a tighter, more mid-focused stacked tone; Morning Glory-first produces a more open, layered breakup. You can switch between orders at any time — the toggle is not footswitch-assignable, so you’d change it between songs rather than mid-song.
Do I need the JHS Red Remote to use the Double Barrel V4?
No. The Red Remote input is a passive ¼” jack that accepts the external footswitch signal; it doesn’t change anything about the pedal’s operation when nothing is plugged into it. The Hi-Gain toggle functions normally via the on-board toggle switch whether or not you have a Red Remote connected. The Red Remote (sold separately) simply adds the option of controlling the Hi-Gain state with an external footswitch — useful for live use when the pedal is positioned away from your primary footswitch row.
What is the Moonshine V2’s Clean knob for?
The Clean knob blends your dry, unaffected signal in parallel with the Moonshine V2’s overdriven output. Turned fully counterclockwise, you hear only the overdriven signal. Turned clockwise, progressively more of your clean dry signal is blended in. This parallel blending is valuable for two reasons: it preserves low-end definition (since TS-style circuits naturally roll off low end), and it lets you use higher Drive settings on the Moonshine without losing the articulation of your picking attack.
Is the Double Barrel V4 truly discontinued, or just temporarily out of stock?
Confirmed discontinued. The JHS Pedals website lists the Double Barrel V4 in its Discontinued & Rare section, and major dealers have removed it from their active inventory. There is no indication that JHS has plans for a V5 equivalent at the time of writing. Players who want the pedal should act on available used market listings rather than waiting for a production return.
Can I run the Double Barrel V4 on 18V externally?
No. The specified power supply is 9V DC center negative. The Moonshine V2’s internal charge pump handles the internal voltage doubling to 18V automatically. Connecting an 18V supply externally would bypass the charge pump’s design intent and could damage the circuit. Use a standard 9V isolated output rated at 100mA or more.
How does the Hi-Gain toggle change the Morning Glory V4’s character?
The Hi-Gain toggle on the Morning Glory V4 side engages an additional gain stage, extending the circuit’s gain range significantly upward. In standard mode, the Morning Glory covers clean boost to moderate crunch. In Hi-Gain mode, it reaches a more aggressive overdrive character with more sustain and harmonic saturation. The Hi-Gain mode’s character is still distinctly Morning Glory — transparent rather than mid-heavy — but at a higher gain density. Used as a stacking tool into the Moonshine V2, the Hi-Gain mode can push combined gain into territory more typically associated with distortion pedals.
Does the True Bypass affect how the circuits interact when both are engaged?
No — True Bypass refers to what happens when a circuit is bypassed (disengaged), not to what happens when it’s active. When both footswitches are engaged, both circuits are fully in the signal path and interact based on the order toggle setting. When either footswitch is disengaged, that circuit’s True Bypass relay takes it completely out of the signal path. There’s no bypass-mode signal loading or buffering interaction to account for.
What amplifiers work best with the Double Barrel V4?
Clean-platform amplifiers — a Fender Deluxe Reverb, a Blackface-style combo, a Vox AC30 with master volume, anything designed to run clean at moderate stage volumes — are the natural pairing. The Double Barrel V4 supplies the gain; the amplifier supplies the tonal foundation. Running the Double Barrel V4 into an already-driven amp is possible but requires careful gain management; the combined distortion of the circuits and the amp’s own preamp can become indistinct if the amp’s own drive is contributing significantly. The Morning Glory V4 side’s transparent character means it reads the amp’s input impedance and character very accurately, which rewards a clean-toned amp with a receptive front end.