Visual Sound Open Road-- a better take on a Boss classic

     This pedal is basically a super well-made version of a Boss SD-1.  It's even painted the same yellow as the Boss.   But it's about $129.00 street price, $80.00 more than the Boss.
      It's got the same transparent basic sound, maybe even more transparent than the Boss, with a slightly softer attack and a better overall sound (more bass, less of a midrange-hump, sweeter highs), a lot like playing thru a high quality tube amp.   When you dig in with your pick, it feels like you're playing directly into an tube amp.  
     The three knobs are for drive, tone, and volume.   Almost every setting I tried out had a musical, useable tone and it had a enough gain for most classic rock and alternative.   It's not true-bypass, it has a nice musical-sounding buffer that sounds great when the pedal is in bypass mode.   And it doesn't have the bleed-thru problems that the Boss exhibits in bypass mode.
     I say it's definitely an option if you like the basic vibe of the Boss SD-1, but want a little bit of an upgrade in overall sound and quality and don't mind paying the difference