Worst commonly seen pedal chassis format...?

[AinsleyWalker]

Apart from mini pedals, which are just nonsense, I really can't work with pedals shaped like the Tone Hammer V2 or Vintage Ultra, especially compared to the Tone Hammer V1 or Vintage Deluxe which have a much more sensible shape/form.

Reducing the length above/below the pedal achieves nothing, I'm not putting anything there.... but then increasing width just means you're eating up board space. Really illogical design if you spend more than 5 secs thinking on it.  
 

Not sure why this type of format is being pushed more and more, it doesn't make sense for common brands of board like Pedaltrain, maybe it's a cheap chassis? (Both companies now owned by Korg so it makes sense quality would eventually diminish in favour of cost-cutting...)

I've owned both of these, and almost immediately gone back to the previous versions as this form-factor is a hindrance. 

Edited yesterday at 11:44 by AinsleyWalker

[LawrenceH]

I think it's for people with big feet and/or chunky boots! Especially ones who are a bit more energetic on a dark stage - they don't like the switches being too close together.

[thumbo]

From a functionality POV, the only benefit I can see is that the switches aren't too cramped together. I've run into exactly this issue with the JAM Rattler, anyone with a foot larger than a size 4 is almost guaranteed to press the on switch and boost together. (There's a cheap workaround however - a switch topper on the main switch that's used.) 

[Linus27]

I'm not a fan of mini pedals either but my favourite pedal ever, the Mooer Ambient A7 is a mini pedal and its amazing. I also agree that this larger sized pedals I usually turn sideways. I have two, a Sansamp BDDI v2 and a Harley Benton Chorus and they are turned sideways on my Pedaltrain board as it gives me more room. I'm also not a fan of these footswitches, for me, the best design is the Boss ones.

Edited yesterday at 12:18 by Linus27

[Lozz196]

My pet peeve on pedals is inputs on the top rather than at the sides.

[Linus27]

1 minute ago, Lozz196 said:

My pet peeve on pedals is inputs on the top rather than at the sides.

 

Yeah, that annoys me as well.

[LawrenceH]

3 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

My pet peeve on pedals is inputs on the top rather than at the sides.

Mine is inputs on the side 😆 I find on the top is nicely out of the way especially on any single-row board, and it's easier getting the short cables to play nicely

 

But really the most annoying thing is when you have a mix of both!

[BigRedX]

Foot pedals with two tiers of foot switches. AFAIAC the second row of foot switches is almost completely useless as I won't be able to accurately and reliably use them whilst playing without either also pressing one in the front row or falling over (or both). Some of the earlier Roland multi-effects had the footswitches on the second row between those of the first which was definitely an improvement, but they appear to have abandoned this design approach. Why?

[jimbobothy]

… pedals with top mount jacks, but their power inputs on the side!

[LukeFRC]

On 23/02/2026 at 12:38, Lozz196 said:

My pet peeve on pedals is inputs on the top rather than at the sides.

I’m the opposite! 

[LukeFRC]

7 hours ago, jimbobothy said:

… pedals with top mount jacks, but their power inputs on the side!

+1

[Wolverinebass]

Ashdown having to have 359 VU's on any pedal they make.

[SimonK]

Who was it who did a pedal a couple years ago with both top and side mounted jacks so you could choose which to use - I thought it was a brilliant idea but it never seemed to catch on?