For me personally, sound is the most important feature of any instrument. At the same time, sound is also one of the easiest things to change, particularly on an electric instrument like bass guitar. Sure, the wood and neck construction do come into play, but so much about the tone can be changed with pickups and pre-amps for the a fraction of the cost of a whole instrument. Modifications can get you 95% of the way to the sound of any other bass.
I wouldn't say looks are unimportant. I'm lucky in that I like the look of most basses and guitars. The longer I play, the more weird stuff I find myself liking. Still can't get into Vs and other pointy things, but I like just about anything else. On the other hand, sometimes you learn to love the look of an instrument that you didn't like at first because it plays and sounds good. I have a tele I didn't originally love the look of, but I spent a lot of time playing it, modifying it, and even doing some light relicing, and now I think it is my most beautiful (and best sounding) guitar. It's like a wife or something. She might not be everyone's idea of beauty, but you see it because you have the relationship.
So I wouldn't say it's bad to care about looks, especially when sound is so easily changed, but at the same time, it can be a good experience to learn to love an instrument that you initially thought was ugly. I realize this is a very sentimental way to talk about something that is basically just a tool, but I also bet everyone knows what I'm talking about.
I don't see it. My sr500 has so much tonal diveristy it's kind of nutty, between the pickup selector and the 3-band eq, plus the frequency switch.
