incorporating "real instruments" to current set up

I know, I know - synths are real instruments but im specificly am talking about the traditional bass, vocal, guitar etc



My current set up consists of ableton, maschine, normal itb set up. Im really happy making my techno itb and get good results with minimal gear.



However recently ive been making a lot of triphop, recording bass, guitar and vox. My bass is a fender aerodyne which I know is on the money as I used to use it to tour with. But I no longer have an amp so am recording it straight into a focusrite saffire 14 firewire interface.



Doesn't capture the warm powerful tone at all.



My vox are going through a sm58 which is a bit battered so not much cop eithier.



So I know I need to invest in some new gear including a mic to get the results but am a bit lost where to start



I could get some more plug ins, amp sims etc but am wondering if a new interface, mic pre etc is the way to go. Im not looking at high end gear but some decent mid range stuff thats going to lend a bit of warm to the recordings.



Any pointers? Im going massive attack mezzanine style with my material.

incorporating "real instruments" to current set up