I personally do not like using amplifiers, although I don"t normally object to the "Streetman"-type battery-powered jobs, and have even considered getting one !!I used to busk a lot in Christchurch, Dorset, with a mandola / mandolin player ( " Lily " !!! ) , and we obtained official Busker"s Permits from the local town hall, on which it was made clear that NO amplification was to be allowed.However, we often encountered other "acts" with amplification, backing-tracks, etc., including the world"s worst "Elvis ", about whom the authorities did absolutely Bugger All , and in general, they never will, UNLESS they receive a specific complaint. Last year, I complained to two coppers on Sidmouth Esplanade one evening, about a VERY loud amplified band who were playing thus DESPITE the fact that in the Sidmouth official programme, it specifically forbad this. An American gentleman was also present, complaining that his wife was unable to sleep ( the offending "artistes" being outside their hotel window !), whereupon Sergeant of Police ' phones Exeter for advice, and subsequently goes up to Johnny Racket and The Decibels, and says " Ello ! Ello! Ello! What"s all this then ?? Turn it OFF !! " Of course, had it been a Nick Drake impersonator with a 6-volt "Pignose" , then nobody would have minded, but Marshall Stacks on the Esplanade is taking the Piss !!!