wrongeneration

So I bought a bass guitar about 4 years ago, at the time it was only a cheapo beginners bass, and I learnt how to get a few tunes out of it, I loved playing blues bass guitar lines, like 5 bar blues and walking blues etc.

But the problem is after about 4 months of practicing properly (playing at least a couple of hours a week) after a while I stopped playing regularly and only played when the mood arises, often I would go for whole months without practicing. But I would then have bursts of playing it regularly and then not at all.

This inconsistency in practicing means I'm not as good as someone who's been practicing properly for four years although I can play along to certain songs like Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit and Devo - Mongoloid, but I'm trying to learn The Jam - Down in the Tube Station and Talking Heads - Psycho killer which I'm finding rather difficult.

Recently though I bought myself a better quality guitar and amp, a Fender jazz bass and 75w Fender amp to be precise, to incentivise me to continue playing, which it has done somewhat but I don't want the interest to disappear again.
I was wondering at what stage on the learning curve did it fall into place for some of you and how can I retain the interest in continuing to learn.