When I picked up a vinyl copy of [i]A Show of Hands[/i] by Rush. I bought a bass the following week and my keyboard playing took a back seat.
Then it was the usual suspects: John Paul Jones, James Jamerson, Ducky Dunn, Billy Sheehan, Jaco, Flea etc...
Mainly because they showed me what the instrument was capable of and that it's not limited to thumping away on root notes all of the time - although a sound knowledge of them is evident in all of those players (and many other excellent players too).