Turntable Mat question

I had a Kenwood KD-500 for about 18 years with a Grace G-707 arm.  I used the Platter Pad on it and it was a very good sound.  Only traded it in at the end as the speed started having problems staying true.  Bought a Maplenoll Ariadne air bearing TT/ arm that after about 9 months, I got working perfectly finally.  The Kenwood with Grace combo was highly reviewed by at least 2 rags at the time.  It was a very good sounding combo.  The 'Noll was much better sounding, but the PITA factor of all the possible ways the air delivery from the pump could go wrong wore me out.  Twice it caused the cantilever to snap close to a 90 degree angle.  I bought the Kenwood for $160 new and the Grace for $97 new from mail order places in California in the late 70's.  Tough to beat combo for that money.

Bob

Hi ...Thank you for all your responses. 
Atmosphere ...I would like to ask you about using record for record mat.
You said that using an LP for record mat is trickier but should be the same hardness as traditional record mat. I have tried it ...sounds good.
Am I losing anything sound wise ?
Thanks Ralph

Atmosphere ...I would like to ask you about using record for record mat.
You said that using an LP for record mat is trickier but should be the same hardness as traditional record mat. I have tried it ...sounds good.

@rocky1313 What I said was

But the LP is trickier- the platter pad has to be very nearly the same hardness as the vinyl (a durometer is helpful) to be most effective.

What I meant by this was that the interface with the LP is trickier to get right with a platter pad because it has to be the same hardness as the LP itself.
I have thought about using vinyl as part of a platter pad material, but as has been pointed out, an actual LP won't work because its the wrong shape. A platter pad has to be a complementary shape so its in contact with the LP surface and another LP or stack of LPs won't let that happen.

Interesting test Ralph.
I literally had to place my ear within 3 inch of the arm/cart before I could hear it.
One foot away absolute silence.

Nice to have some type of confirmation of what my listening tests have told me.

Thanks!

Atmasphere, I have been using vacuum hold down for 30 years and have never damaged a record. I suppose if you threw sand on the platter before the record you might be able to do some damage. No flat mat of any material can control a record that is not flat. They can dampen platter resonance and to some extent in the record (fortunately vinyl is pretty lifeless stuff) A properly designed vacuum system works perfectly all the time and every time regardless of the condition of the record at some additional expense and another box ( big box for the Walker)