JHS Wanderer: Two Iconic Drives, Zero Excuses Left

It is a scientific fact (or at least a gospel truth among pedalboard obsessives) that 90% of a guitarist's adult life goes into stacking two specific overdrives without turning their signal chain into a bird's nest of patch cables.

Enter the JHS Pedals Wanderer 2-in-1 Overdrive Pedal.

According to JHS mastermind Josh Scott—who claims to have used the same two drive circuits on every board he’s built since 2009—this pedal isn't just another dual-drive box. It’s the culmination of years of tone-chasing, Boston Celtics nostalgia, and possibly intergalactic intervention.

Whether you’re a touring pro with a MIDI switcher worth more than your first car or a bedroom rockstar chasing edge-of-breakup nirvana, the Wanderer wants to be the last gain section you ever buy.

What Is the JHS Wanderer?

At its core, the JHS Wanderer pairs two of the company’s absolute heavyweights into a single compact, vertical unit:

1. The Morning Glory V4 (Right Side): JHS’s iconic, best-selling take on the classic Marshall Bluesbreaker circuit.
2. The NOTAKLÖN (Left Side): JHS’s famous spin on the mythical Klon Centaur, complete with the legendary "Shamrock Mod."

Priced at £299.00, it marks the debut of JHS’s new vertical 2-in-1 form factor featuring top-mounted power and jacks, silent soft-touch switching, and a buffered bypass.

Two Iconic Circuits, Four Live Gain Stages

Most 2-in-1 pedals give you two footswitches and call it a day. The Wanderer takes that concept, laughs, and gives you four distinct gain stages on tap.

1. Morning Glory V4 (The Transparent Workhorse)

The right side gives you that signature chimey, open low-to-medium gain texture.

• Volume, Drive, and Tone Controls: Standard fare, but as you turn the Drive clockwise, it adds a lovely touch of top-end presence.
• Gain Toggle: Rather than simply swapping out clipping diodes like cheap date night tricks, flipping this toggle engages an entirely new gain stage. The LED turns fiery red, delivering more gain, a subtle volume kick, and a fuller body.
• Bright Cut Switch: An inset switch on the side lets you tame shrillness if you’re running through a bright Vox or Fender-style amp.

2. NOTAKLÖN (The Midrange Heavyweight)

The left side delivers the magical Klon-style push that guitarists pay thousands of dollars for on second-hand markets.

• Volume, Gain, and Treble Controls: Fully counterclockwise on the Gain gives you up to +16dB of pure clean boost via the Volume knob to punish the front end of a tube amp.
• The +/- Toggle ("Shamrock Mod"): Flip this switch up for the famous JHS modification—adding +4dB of gain, boosted midrange frequencies, and a second stage of hard clipping. Down is pure, transparent Klon bliss; up is pure rock-and-roll attitude.

The Red Remote Magic

Here’s where things get ridiculous: both sides feature dedicated 1/4" Red Remote jacks. Plug in a standard latching footswitch (or run a switcher with amp-control outputs), and you can foot-switch both gain toggles remotely. That means you get:

• Morning Glory Stock (Rhythm 1)
• Morning Glory High Gain (Rhythm 2)
• NOTAKLÖN Stock (Lead 1)
• NOTAKLÖN Shamrock Mod (Lead 2)

Four gain stages, zero knob tweaking required on stage.

Breaking the 2-in-1 Curse: Independent FX Routing

The biggest complaint about traditional dual overdrive pedals has always been simple: they are locked together. You could flip the signal order, but you couldn't put another pedal between them or split them across separate loops on an effects switcher.

JHS listened to the internet's collective whining and added four individual I/O jacks:

• Standard Mode: Plug into the main right input and main left output. The center Order Toggle determines which circuit comes first in series.
• Isolated Mode: Use all four individual jacks to completely separate the two circuits. Want to put a compressor or a fuzz pedal between the Morning Glory and the NOTAKLÖN? Go for it. Want to put your entire pedalboard between them? Josh Scott doesn't know why you'd do that, but the Wanderer won't judge you.
• Switcher Integration: Loop switchers can now treat the Wanderer as two completely separate pedals, saving them into presets independently.

Technical Specifications at a Glance

The Verdict: Should You Buy It?

We genuinely appreciate having two exceptionally well-designed overdrives sharing one compact chassis. Instead of forcing players to compromise, JHS solved every annoyance typically associated with dual pedals: fixed signal chains, crowded jack spacing, and limited gain options.

On the one hand, you get two world-class drive circuits in one board-friendly box; individual I/O jacks that eliminate 2-in-1 routing limitations; 4 distinct gain stages via Red Remotes; and top-mounted jacks.

However, you may feel existential dread when you realize you bought 14 other drive pedals for no reason.

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