Quick Bulking Question

I have a quick question about bulking diets. Currently, I'm probobly eating somewhere around maintenance if not below that, trying to get rid of a little fat that I've incurred since my diet hasn't been all too perfect lately.
My current weight is 180 pounds, my height is 5'10 and body fat I'm not certain of, probobly a little high, but like I said I'm working at cutting it down.

My question is simply this, how much does a person need to eat over maintenance in order to begin to grow? Is it definitely 500 calories to start? or is 1000 a better limit? The reason for my question is I don't want to over consume during strength training and then just be left with excess fat.

Also

Is it best to bulk during a strength training program like 5x5? or does it even matter what program you're doing?

Any advice?

Every body is different.

I know that sounds like a cop-out, but the amount of calories over maint that you require will be different than it is for someone else.  Personally, I'm pounding over 1,200 calories above maintenance, and it just goes right freakin' through me.

Some people drift north of maint by 250 calories, and they start packing on fat.

You really have to experiment with it -get a good pair of skin fold calipers, increase your calories by 200 at a time over maintenance and watch the numbers meticulously.  When you start to gain fat faster than muscle, throttle back.

Finally -and I know this flies in the face of your concern- taking in a ridiculous amount of food (beyond a sensible 200-400 calorie surplus) has its very own anabolic implications.  Eating constantly is itself an endocrine trigger.

My home away from DBB

 come again? lol, endocrine trigger? is that having to do with negative anabolic effects in the bloodstream?or positive effects?

Positive effects.  Every time you eat, your pituitary gland releases Growth Hormone.  Eating big literally stimulates testosterone production.

Depending on the sugar content, it also triggers insulin release, and although insulin is the bus that drives all those amino acids into muscle cells, it also stimulates fat storage, so don't get crazy with the calories.

My home away from DBB