These are Gibson PAF humbuckers pickups, viewed from the top and bottom. More Gibson humbuckers, shown with gold and chrome covers, or no covers.
Some players like to remove their covers, and believe it gives some treble lift.
Pickups that happened to use a black and cream covers were known as 'zebra' pickups, and were fashionable for a short while in the early 80's. The Fender Stratocaster single coil pickup. The six rods are each magnets, with staggered heights to balance string volume. Fender Telecaster neck and bridge single coil pickups. The bridge pickup has a steel plate underneath, that enhances its bass response.