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I am sure this topic must have appeared on here countless times before but I will ask it anyway.I know that many guitarists and bassists change their strings very frequently whilst others leave the same strings on for years.I know that new strings have real ringing top end particularly on the wound ones. However this very quickly fades, meaning you need to adjust your amp treble settings virtually every day for the first two weeks.
Personally, I prefer the sound after about 3 weeks when the excess brightness had faded down. As there have been no gigs for a year now, I haven't changed my strings at all! I can hear you cringing but apart from the low E getting dull in harmonics, they still produce a good sound with a slight eq adjustment on the amp. It will be interesting to hear how frequently other members replace their strings.

If its any help - I contacted Fender on this.

They said it depends on playing style - and usage.

I said that I practiced for one or two hours an evening for 3 evenings a week. Played about 10-15 numbers at the session every Thursday + 4 numbers twice a month at shads clubs.
They said change every 6 to 9 weeks.

I keep track of my string changes on a spreadsheet - but still get caught out with dull strings. So I check my spreadsheet and think - oh dear is it that long.
Don't play that much now.

I would think if you record stuff - if you did part of it - then waited for a couple of weeks the sound would be noticeably different.

Does it really matter at a gig? Would the general public notice ?

I've got several guitars, and some I play regularly but others might get played about once a year. I can usually tell if the strings need changing by a loss of 'zing' in the tone and the need to retune frequently. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Len

I would say that if you have difficulty getting into tune accurately you definitely need to change strings- you can usually hear an untunable guitar if you play a few open chords.

Since I've been using nano-coated strings, I change them every two years at most.

I follow the Rostill practice for my bass - if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I change mine very rarely and I can go six to twelve months sometimes with my guitars in the house, but if we're doing theatres I make sure the strings are pretty new on whichever guitars I choose to take on the gig for fear of breakage. I don't damage my strings with sweat and rarely overdue it with the tremolo arm, so I've always had good service from my strings. I know by listening to them when they need changing and act accordingly. I always have a stock of different gauges in for my different guitars so I'm rarely stuck. I recently strung up one of my Strats with 11/54 with a wound third to try and replicate some early Shads records, but normally my 9/46 do the job admirably.

I know of a well known, experienced guitarist whose has told me that his current strings are over two years old - still getting a fantastic sound!
I suppose it’s all down to your ears.

Clive

I always find that brand new strings are too "zingy "and live for older Shads sounds.Perhaps more like the later Burns guitar sounds where the upper register was sharper sounding than the smoothness of the strat particularly when you play above the 9th or tenth fret on the high E string. On that same point even with older strings, the high notes are much sweeter with heavy gauge strings.I always use 12s or 11s which seem to peak at around 3 to 4 weeks old.

I use D’Addario pure nickel strings . 11’s. Since COVID 19 and no audiences I change my strings perhaps twice a year. Before COVID I played to a small audience once a month and either changed the six strings once a month or changed the top B and E strings one month and the whole set the second month. I was always concerned with broken B and E strings.
Dave