What's happened to my bass?

[Surrpaul]

I took my USA jazz to my luthier this week. It's a Victor Bailey 4 string that I bought about 13 years ago. I confess, whilst it's been very (very) well looked after, it's never had a setup... Until now.

Upon first inspection he said the neck had twisted and that it concerned him. He's making the necessary adjustments to bring it back, and flattening the frets amongst other things.

We all know that each piece of wood is unique and over time can move, but what's actually happened, and how?
Have you experienced it and how did you get around it.

[Twincam]

Any wooden neck can get issues in the right or should that be wrong circumstances. Most are fine of course, but you need to look after them still to some degree.
Its a shame you don't have pics of said neck.

Atmospheric conditions can make wood behave oddly. And bring in a bass from cold to hot conditions or humid to dry or leaving a bass close to any source of heat, multiple times for years and years over its life and that can affect the wood of the neck. Its a very individual thing some basses can seem to withstand anything and another exact same bass will develop issues. I guess that's the nature of an imperfect material, wood in this case.

Also its a possibility that if its never been setup and had no or little influence from the truss rod those conditions could of effected the wood more.
And there's also a possibility that the wood had such natural imperfections it was more susceptible to twisting anyhow.

Don't all USA fenders post 1996 have graphite reinforced necks? This should of gave it more stability.

The way to get around this depends on how much the neck has twisted and how good the individual working on it is. For very small degrees of twist then its possible that it can be put right and it will stay that way.
For a large degree of twist then it becomes more difficult. Larger twists can also re appear after a while, again this depends on how bad it was and the individual piece of wood.
If a twist can be fully fixed great.
If its bad and can't be fully remedied, then maybe it can be managed and brought to a level that's still playable and acceptable to you. That's an option too.
And obviously the last option is a new neck and associated work that goes with it.

[Gottastopbuyinggear]

Two questions I'd ask are why you took it to a luthier in the first place - were there particular problems that you felt needed to be fixed, or was it just that it needed a bit of a set up, and whether this luthier is someone you know (and trust) - I note you said "my" luthier?

The reason I ask is that it sounds a little bit like the classic "[sharp intake of breath through clenched teeth] - could be expensive, guv!". Of course, if you know them this is unlikely to be the case.

Apologies if I'm being a cynical old git!