Of course. But playing classical is something completely different than playing say kletzmer. Both styles require different bowing technique and tone.
I have also studied classical guitar at the conservatory. Really like it but playing classical can be limiting sometimes when it comes to your own creativity. You are much more focussed on interpretation and technique. I am get a bit tired of playing someone else's compositions and notes. On my other instruments (guitar and electric bass and also double bass pizz) I feel more free. When it comes to bowing I am too much boxed in the classical stuff and playing notes instead of making my own music and developing my own way of playing.
I too am a recovering guitarist but that comparison kinda doesn't work. Bowing techniques are subtle, it's not a valid comparison to playing fingerstyle vs plectrum vs. spanish vs. classical guitar styles. I think the only valid comparison is probably using a pick and how you are picking the strings (primarily downstrokes vs. alternative up/down).
If your'e boxed in by the classical idiom, I think it's more of a function of your ears than your hands. I'm trying to get deeper into arco right now with help from a local player who specializes in more folk and alternate styles of arco. What he's showing me is that the technique is the same, but how you approach creating that sound is what's different. For instance, he has a set of bowing exercises that focus only on strokes - patterns that alternate between slurred and non-slurred notes. He plays for a well known folk group and covers all sorts of styles (irish jigs, bluegrass, jazz, etc). I don't think bass is has a natural place in lots of styles outside of western music so there's lots to explore.
The only people I've seen that has a valid and discernable different in technique for arco is Renaud Garcia-Fons and Charnett Moffett. Garcia-Fons (who has a great NPR Tiny desk concert) bounces the bow off of the strings on the hair side to generate a percussive effect that sounds like a drum, and Charnett flips the bow over to get a different percussive palette of wood on string.
What I'm trying to get at is that for these alternate styles, the tone is in your ears. You have to be able to hear it first, and maybe then you can develop a technique that can capture it. But for the most part, I doubt if the technique is really that wholly different than what you find in typical arco technique. It's just how you apply those techniques.
Watch this and tell me (save for the bouncing bow) how his technique is unusual. The sound certainly is.
If you want to develop your own way of playing... well, staying within the classical idiom won't help. You have to break the "rules" at some point.
