Crowhugger - 'Got the message'? That's a bit harsh, isn't it? I 'got the advice' anyway and am very grateful for it.

The reason I was worried about volume is because I play very quiet stuff, not because I want to be heard across street. The idea with the amp was to literally support the guitar - To make it a fraction louder, not to project it at the unwitting. When I talk to people about this I sometimes worry they're picturing somebody pelting out C, G and A open chords with a right hand like Pete Townshend. When those kind of people don an amplifier I'm just as angry about it as anyone else.

I play music that you'd normally hear on a nylon-strung guitar. So to that end I empathise with Lox's comments to some degree.