Electric Guitar Trends

I am surprised how much dancing around there is on this subject.  Even the manufacturers of guitar strings seem unable to articulate when it is time to change the strings on an electric guitar.

Sometimes the advice is simply to play the guitar until the strings feel dead, or don’t sound as good as they used to.  This is not very helpful, as players want to change strings before they are spent.
 
To confuse matters a bit, some strings claim to have double the useful life of regular electric guitar strings. That’s great - how long is that?

Here is your information:  a regular set of guitar strings (say, Ernie Ball Slinkys) are good for 21-28 hours of play time.  That’s 3-4 weeks for somebody who is averaging an hour’s play time per day.  If you leave your guitar lying around, or in storage the strings will still deteriorate.  You can notice this when you try out a guitar in a music store.  A guitar that has been on the wall for a couple of years needs new strings, even if it has very little playing time on them.

For those strings that claim double the life - I think 1 1/2 times the life of a regular guitar string is more realistic.  Usually the small price difference worth the extra string life.  That is assuming you desire long string life, which I do not.

You see, I do not mind changing guitar strings.  A fresh set of guitar strings has the best sound.  And changing guitar strings is an opportunity to completely wipe down your electric guitar and inspect your guitar for wear and tear.

So, I am curious about when other players change their guitar strings - what’s your take?