I have to be honest, I love my P bass but having played a fair few different Fender 5's (some set up fantastically by members on here at basschat)...
They just don't work for me, at all...
Basses I would prefer in a similar price range that I've played:
Musicman (I like the 5's but not the 4's...)
Warwick
Yamaha TRB series (Honestly, one of the best I've played)
Sadowsky (About on par with the TRB)
Dingwall (THE BEST 5 I've played, not the combustion though so slightly higher budget)
All of these have played much better and generally responded better to my playing than any of the fenders I've tried.