Bass gear in order of importance

[BigRedX]

For me the only thing that matters in my current rig is the Line 6 Helix. That's where my sound comes from, and it has always come from my multi-effects since I bought my first (a Roland GP8) back in 1989.

The next most important thing is having the right low E on the short scale basses and the right E and low B on the long scales basses. After that everything else is pretty much negligible by comparison.

The basses themselves are chosen almost entirely for their looks in relation to the band image. So long as it's not unplayable, I can make pretty much anything work.

[Monkey Steve]

Things that matter to me:

1. Agree on the neck, as that will undoubtedly be what makes me buy the bass - everything else can be fixed pretty easily.
2. Sound of the bass - a combination of the pickups and any on board electronics and eq, and the effects of the tone woods.  I can't see any distinction - the bass either sounds good or it doesn't, why it does or doesn't based on the pickups or active elements isn't of huge interest to me.
3. Amp, or rather amp sound.  I use an SVT sound and have an SVT head, but I tend to not worry too much about the actual amp I'm using because I'm more focused on the live sound where I will inevitable be DI'd, so it's a Tech 21 VT Bass and an Ampeg SCR-DI on the pedal board and whatever neutral sounding amp I use will sound fine.  That SVT impression is a big part of my sound
4. Looks - yes, let's be honest, I need to like the look of a bass or else it's not getting off the rack in the shop.  After that, it's back to the other points on the list - I wouldn't play a fantastic looking bass if it sounded awful or had a pig of a neck
5. The set up.  Hand in hand with the neck, how the bass plays will always be important so action, intonation, height of the pickups, etc all count
6. A good tuner pedal - Boss TU2 or TU3 for me
7. Other pedals - tools for a specific job.  Getting the right tool matters, even though outside of the tuner and amp simulators I don't use them much

Things that don't get me that excited (I wouldn't say they're not important):

1. Cabs - see point 3 of the other list.  I agree that they have a potentially huge effect on the sound, but only in the practice studio or on stage, not FOH so I don't lose any sleep over this, as long as they can do the job.  Different if I'm going through the backline for a small pub gig, but I haven't played one of those for a few years.  Might be more important to me when I do
2. Tone woods - it's not that I don't care, more that all I care about is covered under point 2 above. I'm not fussed if the fingerboard is rosewood, ebony, wenge or maple as long as the sound the bass is making is good.  Playing wise I do prefer ebony boards for feel and maple bodies for brightness (and that's what Wal is making for me seeing as i got to choose) but it's not a deal breaker.  Of course, this can also come under point 4 above on looks
3. Pickups/electronics - again, as per 2 above, I'm not set on one particular pickup or one particular on board eq, it's whatever makes the bass sound good.  So while I tend to favour humbuckers with some active eq, I wouldn't dismiss a bass if it didn't have that or didn't have the particular brand of pickups that I like, as long as it sounds good
4. Hardware (tuning heads, bridge, etc) as long as they're functional, and the stuff I buy tends to be at a level where all of this is of decent quality.  I concede that I might notice the difference if it isn't, but I take it for granted