Forgot to mention, I've finally gotten my own bass. No borrowing and hoping they don't ask for it back. This shit is MINE.
I need an amp, though. I've been practicing through Amplitube, which is pretty good, but it has some really, really expensive gear in it.
Because of this software, I've realized that the tone I want comes from a $3K stack (Orange AD200Mk3 head w/ Orange OBC115 cabinet).