Congratulations on your new gear!
You said in original post that "life's too short" and I agree. I'm mainly an acoustic guitar player, who has always played cheap or second hand instruments. About a year ago, my brother in law was diagnosed with stomach cancer, and it made me think "what am I waiting for?" so I took a trip to that there London and bought a decent Yamaha acoustic guitar from Yamaha's own shop.
But now I am slowly and painfully getting to grips with bass playing for a band of older folks, and am loving it. Maybe, one day, I will be able to justify buying some decent bass gear, and be able to post it on Basschat.......