........I've been able to make most anything work pretty well. The price difference is about $1000 and the sound difference is mostly negligible...
+1 For most of the really accomplished players I've heard, I'll use Peter Washington, Christian Mc Bride, Ray Huskey Jr., and Drew Kress as some examples I've seen live, it's the player and his/her instrument that make the sound. Bassists at that level aren't all that into gear. Larry Grenadier does have a specific setup, but it's all about his playing into a Schoeps mic.
Seriously the louder you go the less it matters. Any situation where you need your bass to be louder than acoustic that doesn't have PA support is gonna be a compromise. The subtleties of DB are lost as the volume goes up and no amount of amp will bring 'em back. Drums especially will destroy those artifacts and overtones. The rest is up to you as a player to make it compelling enough for people to listen to...
This is certainly true with the Realist pickup. If you push it past a reasonable volume, it just sounds terrible. No amount of EQ will fix that IMHO. I've had very good luck on my bass with the new Ehrlund Pre Amp and Pickup. But the pickup thing just isn't a one size fits all situation, as you well know. It just happens to work great on my bass with my amp.
1st choice is always acoustic
2nd is a close mic (or the pickup/DI) to a PA
3rd is a justifiable (fidelity/price/weight/etc.) amount of amp to get the job done.
I think this is very bass dependent. As an example, my smallish Mirecourt DB (5/8 size) sounds great, but it isn't going to hold court even in a quiet duo setting. Since it amplifies well, that's the path I have to follow. Having used a Walter Woods for 28 years or so, I'm able to get a reasonable facsimile of the sound the bass creates on own.
When I'm doing college concerts in theaters the P.A.'s the thing. In clubs, most of the time there isn't a P.A. or the setups all wrong for D.B. You're absolutely on target about trying to drive the sound off the stage with a "supper amp" though, it's never worked for me personally.
I would suggest a preamp that fits well with your pick up that you can learn to use in any situation, then the amplification will matter less and you can use any back line or your own small combo. YMMV, FWIW, etc.
-Jeff
+1 if you are playing on the level where there is always P.A. support that's a very good way to go. I've kept my Headway EDB-1 (even though I don't use it all that often, for just that purpose.
Ric
