Robert Hurst (Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Tony Williams, Mulgrew Miller, Harry Connick Jr., Geri Allen, Russell Malone, Steve Coleman and The Tonight Show band) said that a bass player shoud 'get off on making other people sound good'. I could not do Cliff WIlliams' job in 1,000 years; I lack the discipline (although I am getting better as I get older). And shocking as it may sound, not every bass player is just a bass player; sometimes they write songs, do b. vocs, add glamour at some level or another, multi-task (Geddy Lee is not half as good a bass player as he is made out to be (same with Peart's drumming)) etc etc. Being the bass player in a lot of rock 'n'n roll/pop/metal bands is rarely about being a great musician. Often 'good enough' is good eonough.