This is much better than a microphone stuffed under the tailpiece. It needs a little signal boost tho. So I preamp it and the sound is amazing!

Love it. Have it on my fully carved 3/4 Shen with 7710N Black Nylon Tape Wound strings. Super easy install. I use a 90 deg jack to plug 1/4" cable. Definitely gives a good sound, though I combine it with a Myers pick up to my effects blend to warm up the sound just a touch; that's not a slight on this pickup, for it gives a great representation of my bass's sound, more so with pizz than arco, but this version still has a little of that boxy/graty piezo sound, hence the Myers. I don't have any problem cutting through the band so my fellow cats can hear me, so I can play as I would play un-amplified. It's a good product for bassists at any level.

Really makes the bass come through. A great pickup for jazz band. Looking forward to the next concert when we'll be able to see it perform in the performing arts center at the high school. The teacher recommended this pickup for our daughter and he didn't steer us wrong.

This failed me at the worst possible time - during a sound check for a 800+ sold out show. I'll bet I've only actually used it about 6-8 times in the year and a half that I have had it installed. Back when it worked, it sounded fine. But after talking to a few local pros, they've told me these are not very sturdy. Sadly, I have to agree on that.

I have a 1/4 size double bass that I bought for fun, to play jazz bass lines and such. The problem is, it just doesn't have the throw that a standard 3/4 double bass does, but I didn't have the room nor funds for the larger instrument.

So I decided to get a pickup. I first went to my local shop and bought the venerable Fishman BP-100, and found it dissatisfying: it picked up the bass tones well, but seemed to do a better job picking up my fingers sliding on the strings. That was returned to the shop.

Then I found the Realist.
I installed this pickup when it arrived today and spent the next hour playing walking bass lines. With the output of this pickup plugged into my Phil Jones Bass Briefcase, I don't need a preamp, and it sounds just like a nice full double bass with no finger noise.
The manufacturer recommends unstringing the G string and passing it through a plastic clip to hold the jack, but I didn't want to be messing with unstringing, so I used small zip ties looped through the brass nuts at the ends of the strings to secure the jack. It's good enough for me.
I'll come back in a few months if it starts having issues.