Chet's routine sounds good to me.

I give my guitars a going over twice a year - though conditions must be very stable in my house because nowadays that they don't leave the house very often I just can't remember the last time I needed to adjust the trussrod on one of 'em, once I've got things how I like them.

A full setup for me usually means the tiniest of tweaks.

Regarding strings: I have a vague theory that a guitar that's getting played an hour or two every day might need a string change every two or three weeks. I really liked Nikininja's approach which was that he changes his strings every 25 playing hours (was that the number?). I must admit, I couldn't possibly keep track of exactly how many hours' playing a particular guitar gets, though...!

Cheers - C

I use a lot of open tunings for slide work, D, A, G so I'm always checking my setups. I have 2 guitars dedicated to slide.

I think the key there is the word-check.

I check my set up as well, but my guitars don't need to be set up twice a year. My Mustang hasn't had one in years. And it sounds great.

Of course there are several variables.
The climate you're in.
The seasonal changes the guitar goes through.
How weather proof is your home?
Do you take the guitar out a lot. (House to car to house and back again a lot can affect it.
And other factors like these.

Mine mostly stay at home, and I check them, but if a set up is well done and the guitar isn't being dragged all over the place or being exposed to extremes in weather--a set up may last longer.

Learning to do it yourself helps, as in the hands of the wrong person, a set up won't help.

I had a friend who did them for me years ago, and he did a great job.
Some places I've been since don't listen to you and set it up for shred--I don't like it set up that way.
I had one guy set up my Iceman with real low action. The Iceman has tall frets--low action just buzzes, and isn't great tone. I told him I like the action, but he lowered the bridge anyway--when I said the action was too low he didn't raise the bridge--he added relief.

That's when I made up my mind to learn to do my own set ups. The Iceman plays much better now that I set it up the way I like it--there's less relief, the bridge is a bit higher and it plays sweetly.

My Mustang has been the easiest one to maintain over the years.

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It wasn't Willy-Nilly, it was at crows.

Not sure that's possible

I agree with CAFeathers. Of course this is all dependant on where you live, but generally correct not knowing anything of FarRider's geographical location or playing habits.

Where I live I have 2 seasons, Hot and muggy, or cold and wet. I intonate mine at least 2 times a year or as needed. I change my strings at a minimum once a month per guitar because of how often I play.

RK

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

LOL you disagreed again, I guess your one up

FR , bro , I have the same tuning problem but i think mine is related to the weather it does'nt happen that often but when it does there is high pressure in the area and the air is very dry my band mates and the tuner assure me i'm in tune but until that weather system passes i think i sound a little flat and once or twice sharp , go figure , you will be fine bro trust the tuner or who ever your tuning with.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

I purchased my Fender MIJ '72 Reissue Strat new in the late 1980s, and set it up then. The only thing I ever did to the guitar in 20 years was change strings, and polish it. I played it A LOT, and still do, the thing has been rock solid. I never felt the need to set it up again, cuz it never needed it. Never touched the truss rod, saddles, nada. I recently did a complete overhaul on it, and found that it has stood the test of time very well. The lesson is, if you take care of your stuff, don't expose it to anything you would not expose to a baby, you should have a pretty stable instrument. That is just one of my guitars, but it is a good one. I guess that counts for a lot.
I do understand the need to keep a guitar set up. I think some are more stable, and need less tweaking than others. Case in point; I always keep my guitars in their cases, in a climate controlled environment(my studio). Some guitars, you pull out of the case, and they are in perfect tune. The guitar right next to it, you pull out of the case and it is sharp or flat. Same environment, same temps and humidity, different reactions to it. Different peices of wood react differently to changes in temp and humidity. It is just the nature of the wood. A carbon fiber guitar is not affected by environmental changes like a wooden guitar. Just my $.02