Sub-Octave Fuzz-Off : Redbeard Effects Honey Badger vs Way Huge Stone Burner

I played the Honey Badger first - it's been off the board for a while, but the memories immediately flood back as soon as you hear those beautifully balanced and full-fat roaring textures emerging. There's no wonder this is one of my favourite Fuzzes / FuzzStortions - particularly with my favourite settings of Volume @ 3 o'c, Divide @ FCCW (Sub 2), Octave @ Max, Treble @ Max, Bass @ 3 o'c, and Fuzz @ Max.

The beauty of the Honey Badger is that it has the most incredible range in every direction - you can dial things down and make them more subtle and the pedal still sounds consistently brilliant every which way - its superb granularity means that it sounds optimised on near enough every setting with still a degree of clarity even with everything dimed.

When you play the Stone Burner it sounds immediately lesser - it doesn't go nearly as full-on or loud as the Honey Badger, and could really do with just a touch more volume. Also its octave element is quite different - sort of glitching out when you go above 9 o'c, meaning my optimal operating range for that dial was between 7 and 9 o'c - particularly with Volume and Fuzz maxed. In fact for my preference / favourite settings were Volume @ Max, Sub 2 selected, Sub @ c.8:30 o'c, Tone @ 3 o'c, and Fuzz @ Max.

The output of the Stone Burner is a lot muddier, and less textured, much less thick and punchy compared to the Honey Badger - I'm reminded of when I compared the JHS Cheese Ball to the ThorpyFX Field Marshal - no contest really - the Field Marshal is more potent and better sounding in every department - with more range onboard too.

And it seems the same story with the Stone Burner vs the Honey Badger. It's not quite as much of a mis-match as the Cheese Ball vs Field Marshall Head-to-head, but in each case the Thorpy creations at least for my preferences are 10 times more satisfying - pretty much in every department.

That brings us onto the North Atlantic divide - and the price differential between pedals on either side of the pond. If you were looking to buy each of these in the different originating countries, then for Americans the price differential is $100 ($169 vs $269) - which is pretty significant, while in the UK the differential is a much less significant £34 (£185 vs £219).

So obviously there are advantages of buying pedals in their country of origin - and the differences in price-points can be very significant. So the question is really is the Honey Badger $100 better than the Stone Burner. That's really down to the individual to decide - it's a much better calibrated fuzz in my book - you can easily switch the Sub-Octave in and out via separate Footswitch and you have much broader granularity in what you can dial in. Moreover it really sounds much much better to my ears.

I would love to hear from others who own both pedals. The vs dial for me is entirely over to the far left extreme here - the Honey Badger really is superior on every level. The Stone Burner is cheaper, and smaller - which may be pertinent to your situation / needs - while the Honey Badger really blows it out of the water as far as I'm concerned. There's a reason it's one of my all-time favourites!

What say all of you?