My first 5er...P or J or ?

First off I will buy used and only buy something I can sell later without much to no loss so new Squiers are out unless I find one I can flip for about what I paid.

For my first foray into the 5er world, should I debate more about necks and string spacing and less about pickups in general?

I have no idea what I want in string spacing, what do you folks suggest for a newbie?

I rarely see a big assortment of 5 strings used compared to 4 strings so I will likely look online at Ebay and GC used.

I do NOT want to mess around with swapping pickups and I really don't want to mess around with any upgrades other than set-ups, strings etc....NO change in bridges, tuners.

Under $300 used would be ideal and I prefer lightweight under 9 lbs and the longer upperhorn.

The name on the headstock means nothing to me!

Right now I own mostly 1980's Peavey USA basses, Arai & Ibanez Japan made basses all in 4 string models....I llike my Epi T bird but don't like the way it hangs at all.

 

Well, I see 4 string Squiers all day long for $100 range many under $80 used...now I MIGHT go with a Squier P bass used as long as it only maybe needs a pickup.

 

I paid $160 for a 1997 Ibanez SR800....it had considerable rust issues on the bridge hardware (which I fixed)...the rest was just belt buckling...very little fretwear and GC used called it "fair condition"....I know, I got lucky.

 

Glad you mentioned that I think there was one at GC in KC for under $250 used.

 

How is the Ibanez 405 compare to the 505? The 405 is easy to find under $250 used.