[satriasound]

I see people talking about 170 bucks worth of suspension equipment and hellerman tools to hook up countryman b3s and stuff. I thought I'd add in a cheaper method that works for us.

there's a wire type known as memory wire (same stuff that's used in teeth braces). it's available fairly cheap from craft/hobby shops. about 7 bucks will buy you enough material to build 15+ ear to ear headset types or more single ear types. you're looking for beading (as in neclace beads) memory wire (neclace sized rings), typically a silver/chrome finish. this is far stronger than flower wire and holds its shape through light bending and such. the wire's fairly thin and can be shaped with a pair of needle nose pliers. use a good pair of cutters cuz it's stainless steel and will eat weak wire cutters. I would also recommend a simple hotglue gun to coat the ends of the wire to prevent hair getting stuck or sharp edges from sticking out.

the shape you're going for is very close to those around-the-back headphones made these days for pretty cheap. suspends over the ears, around the back of the neck. I like to use heatshrink (gently) to attach the mic element to the wire once the shape is completed. you also should add a slight curl/twist in the wire at the top of one ear that can be pinched closed (gently) to prevent the cable from sliding around too much and straining the mic head if it slips that far. heatshrink the b3 cable back to the center of the memory wire (back of the head) and let it drop.

automatic strain relief provided by the memory wire headset, tape optional, stayed on to a guy who was literally jumping backwards and landing on his back, handspringing up and doing it again. very lightweight.

only thing i noticed about the design is past about 3-4 hours I've heard some mild discomfort on actors because it pinches at the ears a little bit (needs to in order to stay on well without tape) (note: that's 4 hours continous wear. show length seems fine and most actors appreciate being able to take them off for short breaks.) I've used these with hoods, hats, wigs, and full costume changes. if they're fitted well to the actor's necks/ears, they don't generally affect the changes or costume fits.

also, you're probably worried about the chrome showing. the wire's thin enough that at 10+ feet you have know what to look for to find it when shaped correctly and hidden at the base of a hair line, otherwise you can always coat it in whatever heatshrink/paint you like.

if actors complain it's pinching around the tops of the ears (cable is really thin), add a layer of heatshrink and adjust the headset's fit slightly.

these start to look a bit "worn" after about a month of use, but still very useable. and materials put it at around or under 1$ per headset so, throwing them away isn't too big a deal just cut off the heat shrink and build a new one. I also build an adjustable neck size version when i don't know how big the people I'm going to be dealing with are and need to prep them in advance.

shoot me an email or something if anyone's got questions or wants to get more details!