I recently picked up an electric guitar, and am using a Fender Mustang I amp a friend loaned my son. It is not a bad amp, per se. But it has built in effects that cannot be turned off, it is nice having the effects because I do not have any pedals yet. But I would like to be able to play clean sometimes.
I am looking for something about the same size. Maybe a bit bigger. It is a 1-8” 20 watt amp. Maybe something around the 50 watt area. If it has built in effects I am only interested if they can be turned off.
Bonus if anyone knows if it is possible to turn off the effects on this one.
As other people said, Boss Katanas are the benchmark product of this cathegory, it's hard to do better.
The Roland Cube is an old but gold that can be found for dirt cheap on the second hand market, there are both a 20 and a 40 watt version.
A friend of mine found herself to be very happy with the Blackstar ID Core, which also has a 20 and a 40 watt version
They got famous in the 60s and 70s with their British tube amps then sold the name to Gibson. That didn't go well, and the founder bought it back in '96. Now they make a full line of gear. Some other companies' smaller amps seem to be outsourced afterthoughts, or badge jobs.
For your use case, they have a 35w 10" w/ reverb and tuner for $300 and a 60w 1x12"w/3 verbs for $600. I got my 20w 8" at guitar center, they're great too.
I've been weirdly enjoying my cheap Catalyst 60 modelling amp. Has some nice clean tones and you can deep dive with the phone app to really dial in what you're looking for if you want. But even the knobs on top of the amp allow you a good bit of tuning. Also allows you to experiment with a bunch of in built pedal-like effects/reverbs you switch on/off.
I used to own a Marshall MG15CF, and absolutely loved that thing. For the price, it was absolutely excellent.
Depending on how much money you can spend, the Boss Katana will probably be the last amp you'll need for personal use. Or otherwise, digital kits like stuff from NeuralDSP are my favorites too