Redbeard Effects Bearded Vulture

The Redbeard Effects Bearded Vulture is a distortion pedal with two independent circuits in one box: a drive side and an octave side, each with its own footswitch. The octave effect can be used on its own or added to the standard drive, and the pedal ranges from overdrive and distortion into fuzz depending on where the controls are set¹. Guitar.com's reviewer asked whether it might be "the last heavy distortion pedal you'll ever need?"²

Two circuits: drive and octave

The pedal's two circuits, labeled drive and octave, can be used independently or mixed together³. Guitar.com describes the arrangement plainly: "this time you're getting two independent distortion circuits in one box: yes, the octave effect can be added to the standard drive"².

The controls break down like this⁴:

The Bias control is worth singling out because of how it works with the Drive knob, and because Guitar.com's reviewer found the pedal's basic drive tone at minimum bias to be "rich and super-smooth: crisp in the treble, slightly scooped in the mids, and rounded but tight" in the bass².

From a rack preamp to a pedal

The Bearded Vulture is inspired by the Thermionic Culture Vulture, a high-end rack preamp billed as "the only studio unit dedicated to just adding valve-produced harmonic distortion"². Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson wrote that Redbeard's pedal "recreates the celebrated 1998 Thermionic Culture Vulture tube saturator's character in a solid state format"¹.

The octave side is a new addition in this format. Karlsson noted: "And then we have the added Octave circuit which is a new addition to this format and wasn't present on the original"¹. According to the same review, Thorpy added the octave circuit, inspired by Mikey Demus's direct-guitar discovery¹.

The Bearded Vulture is the fifth Redbeard pedal. Guitar.com's Richard Purvis observed that "the previous four Redbeard pedals have all been variations on the theme of trouser-rippingly high gain, and the fifth is" no different in spirit².

What reviewers said

Guitar Pedal X described the pedal's range and character: "It ranges from overdrive and distortion into fuzz, with lively, searing, tube-saturation-style sustain and harmonics"¹. The same review called it "a distinctly different distortion - with a wider range of outputs - and comes very highly recommended"¹.

By the end of 2025, Karlsson had settled on a firmer verdict: "My favourite Redbeard Effects pedal now, and one of the best pedals Thorpy has engineered to date!"⁴ He described it as equally adept as an octave overdrive and octave distortion, but best used as a searing high octane octave fuzz⁴.

Guitar.com's buyers guide, written by Pete Wise, put it this way: "You won't find another distortion pedal quite like this one"³, and noted there are "two circuits to get your teeth into - straight-up 'drive', and 'octave' - which can be used independently"³.

Price

Guitar Pedal X listed the pedal at £219 / $290 as of December 2025⁴. The March 2025 review had given a price of £219 ($285) from the Redbeard Effects webstore¹, so the dollar figure differs slightly between the two listings.