The vagaries of mats

[Punk_oldie]

I had problems with static, tried no mat (as recommended by Project), cork mat, rubber mat, leather mat, felt mat, with no great differences. Then on a whim I cut a roughly 11" circle out of some carpet underlay I had - and wouldn't you know it, static now almost completely gone, even if I vigorously sweep with my carbon brush prior to play. How strange !

 

[NoTransistors]

Whatever works for you.
Look for any plastics residue that might transfer to platter or record. Been there. Done that.
You can buy a room humidifier. Dry winter air is not your friend.

 

[Blue Shadow]

gonna be a rush on carpet underlayment in the coming weeks. Get it now while you can.

Just glad it worked out for you.

 

[Punk_oldie]

It's actually this stuff:
https://www.carpet-underlay-shop.co...te-underlay-10m2-z-fold-pack-from-1-29-per-m2

 

[DavidTT]

Is the platter on your Pro-Ject acrylic? I've learned to set records directly on acrylic platters so as to avoid static issues in the winter air. I had horrible static with every mat I used, including the ones you mentioned plus a few others. When I went without a mat at all, static and related clinging issues disappeared. Glad to hear you found something useful in your environment though!

 

[Bob]

take a dryer sheet (married guys ask better half), punch 1/4 inch hole in sheet,
install between platter and mat.

 

[Fritz411]

I keep this guy around for the winter months. ZERO static.

 

[danj]

I keep this guy around for the winter months. ZERO static.

View attachment 1123198

I have one of those and am very impressed. It's much better at reducing static than the so-called anti-static felt mats I have (Discwasher). Plus it's less than 1mm thick so it shouldn't mess up VTA when used with another mat.

Wish I had some technical info on it. Do you have the spec sheet?

 

[Fritz411]

Wish I had some technical info on it. Do you have the spec sheet?

I don't. The mat came with a used table I bought a few years back.

 

[Punk_oldie]

Is the platter on your Pro-Ject acrylic? I've learned to set records directly on acrylic platters so as to avoid static issues in the winter air. I had horrible static with every mat I used, including the ones you mentioned plus a few others. When I went without a mat at all, static and related clinging issues disappeared. Glad to hear you found something useful in your environment though!

Apparently the platter is acrylic, and 'topped off with a vinyl layer to act as the interface with the record' according to the Project blurb, but it didn't seem to deal with static particularly well, and lost a bit of bass compared to using a mat