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Squier 5 string P bass Special

I think that bass is very good for the price. I would say it is better than the regular Fender 5-string Jazz bass. It has a nice neck, with a good string spacing. You might want to replace the hardware, it didn't seem to sturdy. The pickups were good, but they could probably be upgraded to something better down the road.

Lee
 
It has a better B string than the 5 string Fender Jazz, IMHO.

But the pickups are made for a 4 stringer. The B string is noticeably quieter than the other strings, because of this.

There is a modification on the Fender board that you can do yourself to make the pickups cover the outer strings better, or you could go ahead and replace the pickups and still have a good 5 for under $450.
 
I have a "first generation" Squier P spec 5 and it is a great bass for the money. I can agree with much of what was said above with the exception of cheap hardware and gappy pickguard. The hardware,fit and finish on mine are all very good. I was one of the posters in the FDP thread who did the mod to the pickups and got very good results. I am still amazed how much bang for the buck this bass delivers. I can't speak for the later models,though I have read they have sealed pickups so they can't be modified. The original run such as mine and Holdermans are good basses. As to Squiers in general, there are crappy Squiers but all Squiers are not crap. Headstock decals do not make any bass good or bad. I have two that are as good as any Fender I have owned. If you don't like Fender or Squier so be it brother but if you like 'em,This one is hard to beat IMO.

REd J :D
Who loves his Black P Bass Spec 5
 
That is exactly what I have right now (shorline gold finish, though). I really like it. It's a very nice, good-quality starter bass. I've never in a year of owning it had any problems with hardware or a gappy pickguard, though. Except for what embellisher said. My B was somewhat quiet and it rattled a lot. I speak in past tense cause I broke the em'effer. Anyway. I say go for it, as a starter bass. Squier, despite some of their eff-ups, have some nice stuff.