Technics 1200 G a Forever Turntable?

Before I got the Achromat, I tried the Herbie's mat. I felt that the Herbie's was an improvement over the stock rubber mat. Based on various recommendations I decided to try the Achromat. The result was a more detailed presentation than the Herbies and the stock mat. I did AB comparisons to the best of my ability and settled on the Achromat. 

The first Achromat I received was warped and Music Direct was very cooperative in handling an exchange.

I use the stock headshell with a Hana SL and Pass XP-15.

I have a LP Gear Zupreme Headshell that I may use in the future with a different cartridge.

Jake, you are in a different league with the Van Den Hul cartridge and preamp. Let us know how you like the music.  

I appreciate all the feedback. Now to track down a 1200 G. 

I recently upgraded to a Technics 1500C and It's definitely my forever TT. Everything there is to love about a Technics TT minus all the DJ foofaraws. Rock solid at all three speeds with end of play arm lift, and sounds fantastic with a Ortofon 2M Bronze and Schiit Mani. It shares a lot of the same mechanics as the 1200 series for a lot less dinero.  Use the $2800 you save to buy the stylus/cart of your dreams!

Happy hunting! It will definitely be worth waiting for.

As time goes by it will be ripe for upgrades such as an improved record mat and/or tonearm.

Regarding mats, I believe the late Art Dudley had it right, “The thick rubber record mat, unrepentantly gray, is simply the finest and best-sounding mat I've used. (I tried it on my Garrard 301, whose stock mat was shamed in the comparison.)”
https://www.stereophile.com/content/luxman-pd-171-record-player
No additional clamp or weight required.

Ammonite Audio and SoundSupports out of the UK offer several options of armboards for tonearm upgrades should you decide to take it further down the road.

@hobo1452

 I recently upgraded to a Technics 1500C and It's definitely my forever TT. Everything there is to love about a Technics TT minus all the DJ foofaraws.

I'm afraid what you call "DJ foofaraws" is a Pitch Control and this feature is more than you can imagine. You must be a musician to understand what is the pitch and why it's critical. I'm sure Technics explained this recently too.     

Some people don't understand why there is a pitch control on High-End turntables, for most of them pitch associated with DJ turntables only. In reality pitch control is an amazing feature for reference class turntables and critical listening sessions too! JVC/Victor engineers explained very well why there is a pitch control on TT-101 (for example):

"The pitch, "A" is standardized at 440Hz according to international standards, and is the standard for all western musical instruments. In other words, the tuning of all instruments of the orchestra is based on this pitch. But in reality, the basic tuning pitch of each orchestra differs due to the instrumentation and individual characteristics of each orchestra, as well as the personality of the conductor. The diagram shows such differences by orchestra. Most of the pitches range within +/- 6Hz of 400Hz. To reproduce these subtly different pitches, a quality turntable with highly accurate rotation is required. Another important requirement is the possibility of minute speed adjustment. If the speed of a turntable could be adjusted to the individual pitch used by an orchestra while at the same time remaining controlled by a quartz-locked servo system, the benefits of flexibility and precision would be significant from a musicological viewpoint. For this reason the TT-101 is equipped with built-in speed-control facilities which can adjust the pitch in 1Hz steps within a range of +/- 6Hz or 440Hz. The difference of pitches between master tape recorders and disc record cutting machines has been intentionally ignored before but now the speed of a record can be adjusted to match the original pitch of the orchestra, even if the master was recorded differently from the original performance. For example, a performance of the NHK Symphony Orchestra on the record can be adjusted to match the pitch of the same performance on a record by the London Symphony Orchestra, for the enjoyment of critical comparison."
The "A" key of a piano in your home is usually tuned to 440Hz. When you practice the piano while playing back a record, you can adjust the pitch of the record, to be in perfect tune with your piano.