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Options for ridding records of static electricity

I am getting back into vinyl, listening to “garage sale” finds and also new albums that I have been picking up. I have a nice old Linn Sondek LP12 with the felt mat. Every time I go to remove a record from the spindle or flip the record, static electricity grabs the felt mat and it sticks like a magnet. I have to very carefully flip the felt mat at the corner with my finger but one of these times I’m going to slip and smudge or scratch a record. 

I’ve seen the “Milty Zerostat” and seem to remember this product from back in the day. I see that it is still made and there is one eBay vendor that has them for $77. Is this my best bet? I thought Michael Fremor talked about these in one of his videos. 

Are there other products I should look at to reduce static electricity on my records? Thanks for any help you can give.
masi61
slaw's avatar
slaw
20,414 posts
 
@teo_audio,

Why is felt the best?

Would you be interested in trying a MyMat or two?
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,590 posts
 
Felt is terrible for a mat. The only reason it gets used is for DJ stuff where it can act like a clutch- you can stop the LP but the platter continues to spin.

The function of the platter pad is to damp both the LP so it does not talk back to the cartridge as the groove is traced, and to also damp the platter itself. Felt simply can't do that; if high end audio reproduction is your goal, your investment dollar in the turntable as a whole will not be served by felt in any form.
slaw's avatar
slaw
20,414 posts
 
@atmasphere ,

You're explaination equals my experience.
daveyf's avatar
daveyf
2,835 posts
 
@atmasphere Ralph, this is where we disagree. The Linn felt mat is the best sounding mat for the Linn ( except for maybe the Collaro mentioned above). The Linn felt mat damps out the platter and is spec’ed for the table. While I suspect you have not really AB’ed a number of mats for the Linn, the unfortunate thing ( unfortunate, as the felt mat does incur static) is that of all the mats I have heard on the table ( and that includes rubber and vinyl) the felt is easily heard as being superior. Linn suggest applying a piece of double sided tape to the back of the felt mat to make sure it stays on the table, if one is concerned about that. Would a felt mat be the answer for most tables, definitely not; but with the LP12, I do think Linn know what they are talking about.
slaw's avatar
slaw
20,414 posts
 
@daveyf ,

Certainly, you have not heard all mats.

BTW, The MyMat needs no dbl-sided tape.....what a cop-out
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