HQ 083831: Electric guitar sound pickup microphone device.

Native CBP ruling rendition. Applicability is fact-specific; modification/revocation relationships and original publisher date are retained. Publisher sentinel year0001 means unknown date, not a historical legal adoption.

                                    HQ 083831
                                    June 9, 1989

          CLA-2  CO:R:C:G  083831  KK

          CATEGORY:  Classification

          TARIFF NO:  8518.10.00

          Mr. A.J. Gillette
          Korg U.S.A. Inc.
          89 Frost Street
          Westbury, N.Y. 11590

          RE:   Electric guitar sound pickup microphone device.

          Dear Mr. Gillette:

                Your request of February 9, 1989, for a binding ruling
          under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
          Annotated (HTSUSA), regarding the tariff classification of guitar
          pickups was referred to this office for a direct reply to you.

          FACTS:

                The subject articles are electric guitar "pickups" which
          consist of magnet cores with wire coiled around them.  The
          movement of the strings on an electric guitar are brought to bear
          on the magnetic field of the magnet, thereby producing electric
          impulses by induction.  The current thus created is presented to
          an amplifier as a voltage across the input resistance of said
          amplifier.

          ISSUE:

                Whether the pickup devices are properly classifiable as
          "[m]icrophones" in heading 8518; as "[p]arts . . . and
          accessories   . . . of musical instruments" in heading 9209; or
          as "[e]lectrical machines and apparatus" in heading 8543.

          LAW AND ANALYSIS:

                Classification of merchandise under the HTSUSA is governed
          by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's).  GRI 1 states, in
          part, that classification shall be determined according to the
          terms of the headings and any relative section and chapter notes.
          The Explanatory Notes, the official interpretation of the HTSUSA
          at the international level, provide a commentary on the scope of
          each heading of the Harmonized System and are thus useful in
          ascertaining the tariff classification of merchandise.














                                        - 2 -


                Classification of the subject merchandise in heading 9209
          is precluded by operation of the Explanatory Notes to headings
          9207 and 9209.  Explanatory Note (D) to heading 9207 states that
          "electrical or electronic apparatus . . . are excluded and fall
          in their respective headings (Chapter 85) whenever they are not
          built into the unit itself."  Explanatory Note (D)(3) to heading
          9209, which pertains to parts and accessories for the instruments
          of heading 9207, cross references "Explanatory Note to heading
          90.27 regarding electronic parts and accessories."  In effect, to
          the extent that electronic parts and accessories for musical
          instruments are provided for in chapter 85, they are classifiable
          in that chapter.

                Explanatory Note (A) to heading 8518 states in pertinent
          part:

                      (A) MICROPHONES AND STANDS THEREFOR

                Microphones convert sound vibrations into corresponding
          variations or oscillations of electric current, thus enabling
          them to be transmitted . . . they include:

          (3) Moving Coil or ribbon microphones, in which sound vibrations
          are brought to bear on a coil . . . in a magnetic field, thus
          producing electric impulses by induction.

                As a matter of function, the sound vibrations created by
          the movement of the strings of a guitar disturb the magnetic
          field of the magnet in the instant devices, thus producing
          electric impulses by induction.  Accordingly, in view of the
          description in heading 8518 and the accompanying explanatory
          notes set forth above, the subject guitar pickups are
          specifically provided for in that heading.  This being the case,
          heading 8543 is not applicable.

          HOLDING:

                The subject guitar pickups are properly classifiable in
          subheading 8518.10.00, HTSUSA, which provides for "[m]icrophones
          and stands therefor . . . [m]icrophones and stands therefor,"
          dutiable at 4.9 percent ad valorem.

                                        Sincerely,



                                        John Durant, Director
                                        Commercial Rulings Division