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Good double bass pickups can all be found for under $275.. preamps though (i dismiss as useless unless you want a blast of volume and "percussive" crackle) start at about $150.
I've played some horrible plywood basses, but I've also played some horrible plywoods with the Realist installed that sounded amazing. The Realist amplifies the pure sound that the bass body produces inside of it, not the output. Fishmans and other common piezos just amplify what you hear, meaning a plywood with a fishman=unpleasent tone, whereas a plywood with a Realist=wonderful warm tone without the signature plywood crisp/crunch when you pluck the strings.
Carved and solid basses sound terrific without amplification and terrific with amplification (using just about any pickup).
And just stay away from magnetic pickups.
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