mr dave

how is it you didn't notice the sound of the bow or your fingers pressing the strings while trying it out first? you did properly try it out before dropping the cost of a new small car on 2 pieces of gear right? or did you mean 700-800 each as opposed to 7000-8000?

either way, the sound of fingers pressing down on the strings with electric instruments isn't that uncommon. the simplest way to deal with that is to practice muting and attack techniques. muting with your fingering hand is usually done with a finger behind the one you'll be using the play the note. simply lay part of your finger over the strings to muffle their sound but don't actually press down on it. that way when you press down on the note the string is already muffled and the sound of your finger is less audible. otherwise you'll have to try to soften your attack so that you only press the string as firmly as you actually need to in order for the note to sound and let the amp do all the grunt work.

any electric instrument will sound cold to its acoustic counterpart. 'spice' is relative. maybe a little reverb would help. i'd suggest talking with the person in charge of stringed instruments (not guitars) at your local music store. they should be able to better advise you on possible effects. normal guitar effects 'should' work but they're made specifically to handle the frequencies of a guitar so while they'll work on other instruments you might notice a loss in quality in certain ranges. you might also want try some fancy footwork with a volume pedal to diminish some of the sound of the bow hitting the strings, especially if you can find one with a limiter knob so you can set the active range of the volume sweep.

__________________
i am the universe