Re: Do lower price pickups cause more feedback?
Erroneous conclusion. Some of the worst sounding, cheapest import PU's are buried in wax; take the cover off and it looks like a bar of soap. On the other hand, one of the world's great PAF's, SH-55 Seth Lovers, are unpotted (no wax). Some of the Gibson Burstbuckers are also unpotted, as are a growing number of expensive, high-quality boutique PAF's.
Your Washburn may just have cheap PU's to begin with, and if that's the case, you're always better off upgrading. The single most important thing you can do to improve a guitar's tone is usually to put in better quality PU's, more than everything else combined (hardware, electronics, etc). A number of mid-priced imports have gone thru my hands over the decades, and without exception, upgraded PU's make a world of difference in tone quality, clarity, and articulation. You don't realize what you're missing until you step out of your comfort zone and try something new.