I don't know the exact breakdown of numbers, but it's increasingly common for a Strad to be owned by a benefactor and loaned to the musician. I don't know of any other artifact that straddles such extremes of being a treasure but also a work horse. Even the owners of lesser instruments have to deal with the implications of taking a valuable and delicate instrument out of the house to play in a saloon.
For this reason, tweaking a Strad is unlikely to be done casually. Re-stringing? Sure, at the very least E strings, which break all the time. But a set of fiddle strings is damned expensive, and takes time to break in so they don't sound too harsh, so re-stringing has to be coordinated with one's performance schedule.
Online, one can find a list of every known Strad, its history of owners, etc. Interestingly enough, a couple of them are listed as missing or stolen.
For this reason, tweaking a Strad is unlikely to be done casually. Re-stringing? Sure, at the very least E strings, which break all the time. But a set of fiddle strings is damned expensive, and takes time to break in so they don't sound too harsh, so re-stringing has to be coordinated with one's performance schedule.
Online, one can find a list of every known Strad, its history of owners, etc. Interestingly enough, a couple of them are listed as missing or stolen.