What is a "healthy warp"

[DaM13N]

I have just got my Ibanez SR 705 on Monday. It was a brand new set out of the box and when I tried in at the shop, everything was fine and the action was alright, although it was tuned down one whole step from the standard tuning.

2 hours later, I brought the bass for a jam session and that was when I noted that the string actions seemed to be higher down the frets. There also seemed to be some buzzing as well.

My immmediate concern was the neck had warped. I checked a few times over the next 2 days, but couldn't really detect any warping though.

Last night, I decided to bring the bass for a set-up. The guy I spoked to, told me that the action is fine and that this is the standard setting (higher actions down the fret) for most bass. And he said there is a slight warping on the neck, and he called it "healthy warp". He said that instead of warping inwards (towards the string) the neck is curving outwards.

My understanding is that the neck should be straight, and the term healthy warp just doesn't make any sense to me. In any case, I requested that he help me to do the set up and see if he can rectify the issue as well as adjust the action and buzzing.

My questions are,
(i) Is there any truth to the term "healthy warp"? This is the first time I've heard of this term.
(ii) Is it true that the factory will set the string actions higher than usual towards the lower frets?

Thank you.

[JimiLL]

1.Warping of any nature is not good. What hes talking about is relief. A warp is a twist in the neck.

2. Not really, unless a lower quality bass, then the strings will be high everywhere.

Im guessing what the bass needs is the bridge saddles lowered and some relief put into the neck.

What frets is the buzz coming from?

[DaM13N]

Originally Posted by JimiLL

1.Warping of any nature is not good. What hes talking about is relief. A warp is a twist in the neck.

Hi, what do you mean by "relief"?

Originally Posted by JimiLL

What frets is the buzz coming from?

The buzz starts about 12 frets down where the actions are higher.

[walterw]

"relief" is the curvature the neck is supposed to have when the truss rod is loosened. it's just a smooth upward curve like a ski ramp.

"warp" is when the neck twists to one side, or curves up in some spots but not others. it's a bad thing.

buzz on the high frets usually means the saddles are set too low. if the action is high too, it means the neck has too much relief and saddles were set too low to try and get the action back down again, causing the strings to crash into the up-curved end of the fretboard. straighten out the neck (until the relief is almost gone), then raise the saddles til the buzz goes away.