I'm certainly getting won over by the low stage volume/no backline/leave the FOH mix to the FOH approach.
Now this begs the question - if you do all this, and onstage tone (which probably only I care about in the band) becomes less important, then what becomes essential?
- Bass in tune and intonates well
- Active bass has sufficient battery life
- Shielding from interference, from bass to mixer
- Appropriate signal strength from bass to PA can be achieved without adverse side effects.
- A "tone that the sound engineer can work with", i.e. rubbish in rubbish out, don't crank the low bass on an active EQ, etc.
- No nasties in the signal (bad fret clank etc.)
Once those are covered, bass choice would seem to hinge on playability, setup, weight/balance, and of course colour!