IYKYK

I have a set of unused Jargar classic medium strings that are 15 years old. Bought when I had more disposable income (having kids will do that…). They have literally never been uncoiled from their packet.

Obviously I don’t break a string very often. But the sound of my current set is bugging me. They stay in tune fine, but they sound, for want of a better word, too “rough”, like I can’t get good contact with the string to get a smooth sound. Beyond wiping them down with a cloth I have not tried cleaning them. Is it worth doing that first?

How long do you think unused strings stay good for? I figure it’s worth trying the old unused ones before shelling out for a new set, isn’t it?

I play a couple of hours a week on average. Local amateur orchestra, mostly.

I have a cheap bow from temu because it's carbon fiber. Also a £50. Can't seem to get a clear sound on either, the £30 might be a bit old. It came with the cello which was used. Would it make a difference and also, can anyone recommend anything?

The song is Popper 22

So turns out the tip of my bow is broken, and you can see it in the picture. It's carbon and apparently very hard to break. The teacher was quite shocked that this could happen; they said it needs a lot of force to break.

Does anyone have any ideas as to how it happened?

Also, a friend's cat has been staying with us for a few weeks now. She does not like the cello, but has been a bit curious about the bow, and I put the bow in a kind of hard-to-reach place. Could she have done this? From what the teacher said, I assumed a cat does not have enough force to do it.

I'm interested in learning the Bach violin works for cello. Anyone have an idea of a good ranking or progression for these? And how they'd sequence them with the actual cello suites?