So I picked up Thane tonight for the first time this week (stupid house inspection, making me clean, bleh) and um... I'm squeaking. I know my bowing is not very good: I can see that I am unable to keep the bow straight and I know that this is quite likely the cause of my... uh... caterwauling. But I also noticed when I looked over his strings that they are considerably blacker on the fingerboard and bowing area than they are between the bridge and the tailpiece. I'm even seeing a little bit of black colouring on the bridge itself. So I was wondering: do the oils in human skin cause the strings to deteriorate at all? I know that my horrendous bowing is 99.9999(recurring)% of the reason for these strangled cat calls but I'm also wondering if the strings will need to be replaced.

The strings themselves are Epoch Dynamic, Aluminium wound steel core strings for students. I've heard that steel core aren't the best but, well, they were the only ones the music store I go to had, and the staff at the other one are the most obnoxious, holier-than-thou, elitist (insert mild expletive of your choice) that I've ever come across in retail, so I'm not going there. And I'm rambling so... what was my point again?

Ah, right. How do I tell when the strings need to be changed, or do I just keep playing until they break or kill the Bow of Unknown Origins?

Thanks. And now back to torturing the neighbours.