[davidseidel]

On the topic, as you mention whether this should be in sections for jazz/pizz and classical/arco it strikes me that before the "improvement" of metal strings these categories may not have even rated a mention. I am not sure but it seems to me that in those days of gut strings a bass player was a bass player and it was not necessary to carry a different set of strings depending on what music you might play. Having spent some time playing classical and much more on jazz I still find the only strings suitable for both are gut. The only problem is now that pure gut strings are not deemed suitable for a section. Well they were suitable for most of the history of orchestral performance so why not now?! Or were the old time players more skilled then?
The problem with most or all "classical " metal strings is they are damped so that certain ranges of tone or frequency are much repressed. OK they are then more forgiving to bow but quite thuddy when pizzed. Metal with les damping seem to give lively pizz but tend to sound harsh when bowed. Undamped gut strings wound or not give a full range of color and vibrate freely whether bowed or plucked. None of the "gut like" synthetics really do this IMHO. Gut has a more musical range of highs to lows.
Anyone care to comment?