Whilst the original spec for Humbucker bobbins was black, a shortage of these items on the production line in the 1950’s resulted in bobbins being sourced in "virgin" material (ivory coloured plastic), hence when guitarists started to remove their brass covers, they discovered that some guitars contained what have become known as "Zebra pickups". Some people believe these are the best sounding humbuckers ever. I just think they look great, and by using the same windings as our WVC pickup, they are as authentic sounding as anything currently available.