Depends on who you consider the big dogs. The big British names? No, not comparable. The big Americans? Yeah, probably comparable.
Dunhill, Barling's, Comoys, and Sasieni didn't put out cosmetically blemished pipes, and maintained very high finishing standards until very late in their respective histories. Anything considered not of the best was turned into seconds or just destroyed.
American mass production makers as a rule were less obsessed about quality. I've got a four digit Kaywoodie Supergrain with fills and extraordinarily washed out grain, as an example.
Hesson was of that tradition. They weren't trying to market high end pipes, they were trying to market their apparatus. They aren't bad pipes, but they don't tend to be great pipes either. At least in my opinion.
Doc