I was rehearsing with a string quartet for something, and found myself talking to the violist about strings: I had been trying out a lot of different brands and types of bass strings at the time. I figured that it had to be done sooner or later – and damn the expense – so for a while I spent quite a lot of money on strings. As it happened, none of them achieved what I was seeking because I was looking for something that the instrument I was playing at the time couldn’t deliver. Anyway, I told him about a conversation I had recently had with a mutual friend, a highly-esteemed (and highly-strung) violinist. This fiddler had commended my quest: when I said I hadn’t yet found a string that satisfied me, he said “maybe it’s not important – what’s important is that you’re searching”.
The bluff violist thought otherwise; “what a load of bollox” he said “get a set of Dominants!”