It’s been an on-again, off-again summer for amplified music on the Oak Bluffs harbor and this weekend the bars on the water will go quiet after selectmen voted to reverse their music policy on Tuesday. Again.

Two weeks ago selectmen heard from musicians who said a previous vote to allow only acoustic music outside was bad for business. Selectmen voted at that meeting to allow outdoor amplified music until 9 p.m. for two weeks to see if bars could keep the decibels to a reasonable level. No musicians attended Tuesday’s meeting, but Lobsterville Bar and Grill owner Peter Bradford said that the trial period had not been successful. Mr. Bradford singled out one bar as the culprit.

“In my opinion we’re talking about one venue here, we’re talking about the Sand Bar,” he said.

Mr. Bradford produced a letter signed by every bar owner on the harborfront except the Sand Bar calling for an acoustic-only policy.

“There’s 25 to 30 other venues in town for musicians to play, so for those people at the last meeting that said ‘I’m a singer or pianist, you’re putting me out of business,’ we’re not putting anyone out of business, we’re talking about one venue,” Mr. Bradford said.

He said a number of bands had performed at the Sand Bar over the past two weeks, exceeding an acceptable volume level for patrons and employees at his restaurant. He also said he had called owner Mark Wallace to ask the bands to quiet down and originally Mr. Wallace complied. But after subsequent calls, Mr. Bradford said the meetings became more confrontational.

“We’re talking about the heavy bass that vibrates the bottles and glasses on our walls and being unable to play our own background music because our neighbors are so loud. We lost two tables on Sunday,” he said.

“I’m really upset hearing about this,” said selectman Gail Barmakian, who suggested the town return to its acoustic-only policy except for background music or television noise, with special permits for amplified outdoor events.

Nancy’s Snack Bar owner Douglas Abdelnour Jr., also present at the meeting, said he was comfortable with an acoustic-only policy but would prefer to have some amplification.

“The last two weeks it has been a thousand times better than it was in the past,” he said.

Mr. Abdelnour has already hired bands to play at Nancy’s for the Fourth of July weekend. He said he would lose some money, but it was balanced by providing his customers with a pleasant dining atmosphere. “We want to cater to our customers,” he said.

Selectman Walter Vail said he was sorry the Sand Bar owners were not present. “Because I would ask them personally to turn it down, but they’re not here so on that basis I would say let’s go to acoustic only,” he agreed.

As a compromise selectman Greg Coogan suggested inviting the Wallaces to their next meeting to review their entertainment license rather than reinstating a blanket ban.

“That way we won’t have to change our policy over the weekend for establishments that have hired bands,” he said.

But Mr. Vail and Ms. Barmakian said they could not go along with that.

“What we have is not working,” said Ms. Barmakian.

In the end the board voted unanimously to enact the ban on outdoor amplified music for the next two weeks. Selectman and bar owner Mike Santoro recused himself from the discussion and vote; board chairman Kathy Burton was not present at the meeting.

In other business selectmen:

• Approved Michael Amaral’s proposal to sell used golf balls in the parking lot of the Lampost;

• Asked police chief Erik Blake to assign an additional detail officer to the monster shark tournament at the expense of the tournament organizers to curb public drinking;

• Approved a new fishing accessories and clothing business, Old Harbour Outfitters, at 28 Lake Avenue;

• Approved scoutmaster Dan Nelson’s request to sell water at the blinker intersection during weekends throughout the summer.