Hello! Some question about technics 1200s

[gonzo.pete]

I use Vaseline coated dinner plates with a hole drilled in the centre

But really I miss my old slipmat designs. Using Traktor, the same record stays on the turntable and I never get to see my mats during the "switch" anymore. Oh the humanity

[U-31]

I use Vaseline coated dinner plates with a hole drilled in the centre

Do you not find you get an awful rumble transmitted thru to the sylus using that method? There aint much cushioning in a dinner plate, youd need to isolate the vibration from the platten somehow.

[gonzo.pete]

I only get rumble when I still have dinner on the plate. Potatoes are the worst culprit!

[U-31]

I'd imagine the gravy would help as a lubricant though?

[Xonetacular]

Slip mats are preference, I have the butter rugs and dislike them- I prefer regular felt type mats and like a little more resistance and cushioning when mixing than the thin ones.

My favorite slip mats were the djforums ones I had, they felt great and were the perfect material/texture but I don't know where they went.

[Lineypirate]

It's worth noting that you get what you pay for with needles and carts. With normal vinyl, this comes across as audio quality and volume but it also means pickup voltage, accuracy and calibration with timecode.

As for setting up your turntables properly, I always do it. It doesn't matter if your only playing timecode at the minute as a properly positioned and balanced tonearm will prevent wear on both your records and your needles. Added to that you will probably spend a lot of time back cueing if this is your first vinyl experience, a properly set up tonearm and turntable will stop your needle falling out that groove! (And it's a must for when you start messing about with scratching).

Look on youtube for set up videos, there's loads!

[Xonetacular]

If I was buying new I would get M-447s like everyone else. I happen to have like 5 ortofon nightclub 2 concordes thrown into used technics deals so I'm pretty set there. the long plastic arm on them sucks pretty hard for $180 carts though.

[Nicadraus]

I still use and love the original Technics slip mats that come with M3D/MK5/M5g models. I only do very few scratches so it does the job very well for me. Although I have tried using butter rugs, it does have so much advantage when doing some serious scratching.

[Sherlock Ohms]

I use Vaseline coated dinner plates with a hole drilled in the centre

But really I miss my old slipmat designs. Using Traktor, the same record stays on the turntable and I never get to see my mats during the "switch" anymore. Oh the humanity

Get transparent vinyl

(the Fluro ones you can pretty much see through ...)

[mablack]

You put the wax paper under the crappy slipmat you already have... not just throw the record on it. I use the record insert trick... works great.