Definitely underrated as a bass player and songwriter (and the entire STP catalog for that matter), but he's a great guy too.
I'm probably 10+ years late, but after breaking out my Model-T bass for some more recording tonight, I figured I'd chime in.
I met Robert and Dean back in the 90's. My buddy's band was opening up for them when they were on the Talk Show tour (pretty great album too, give it a listen!). Super genuine dude. I had the opportunity to hang out with him for a little while after the show. I'm a huge fan of his tunes. STP is definitely under-appreciated for what they contributed to back in the day, and their new album is fantastic as well. Without question, they we're right up there with PJ, Soundgarden, etc. with their tunes. They just don't seem to get as much airplay as the others these days. Maybe it was Scott's substance abuse issues throughout their career, bad timing, who knows.
Long and short of it....
Robert hooked up my entire band w/ a Schecter endorsement when we signed w/ MCA back in 96'. It was all based on my 5 minute conversation with him after the show. He volunteered to give me his Model-T after their show, but he only had 3 or 4 basses on the road with him and couldn't spare it at the time. He gave me a number to call when we went out to LA to record the CD.
Our first stop off the plane was Schecter. They were tremendous, and gave us a boat load of guitars to borrow for the sessions. Shortly after I returned to the East Coast, my Custom Model-T arrived in the mail for our tour. That bass (the only bass I've kept, and always will), has seen studio's, the Warped Tour (w/ my buddy's band), my following band's CD release, and still beats out every bass in the locker when it comes time to track. But I digress

......
Just a huge thumbs-up for a tremendous songwriter/bass player to go out of his way to do something like that. He went on to co-write/produce my buddy's band, and continues to put out great music to this day. I'm thrilled that Schecter has grown to be such a huge company (although their US Custom Shop models don't get as much recognition as they deserve). From a human standpoint, this guy couldn't rank any higher. I hope STP continues to put out great albums, and I hope the newer generation of bass players can appreciate how great a bass player he was, and continues to be. He's not super flashy, but he wrote/writes some phenomenal bass lines (and songs!), and should be recognized for his continued contributions to R&R......