I think my bass has a bit of warp to the neck. I was surfing the net to find out if warped necks were fixable and I found this website: Warpedneck.com. Apparently they heat treat your warped neck and remove the warping, getting it setup with just a small amount of relief "for proper setup". They say they can tackle even the most warped necks and only charge $75 (+ shipping there and back). Anybody here ever use them or know someone who has?
Are the results permanent & sustainable or is there a good chance the neck will revert back to its warped state in time? Riis
Common sense tells you that a one piece neck will want to warp again sooner or later. Who knows about common sense though?
I'm not a luthier--I'll defer to Mikeyswood and others!--but I've been doing my own setups for several years and other bassists are pretty impressed when they try my instrument. Here's my thought: are you sure you need a heat bend? IME most decent instruments just need attention to the neck relief and string height. And I dunno that it's worth paying for a heat bend on an inferior bass. +1 to Mikeyswood's suggestion that you see a savvy (and honest) local tech first, if you're not totally clear about routine setups. P.S. I saw some of Mikeyswood's basses-in-progress at the Columbus OH GtG. Listen to the man: he knows his stuff.
I don't know for sure if I need a heat bend - probably not. I know that I've adjusted the truss rod so that there's about a credit card thickness between the frets and the strings, but the E-string is still too high. If I lower it I get buzzing when I fret at the 12th fret and higher. I definitely need to start by taking it to a good luthier for a setup.