Oh, and any TT I have sits in a huge slab of slate by which I am totally convinced.
My modded 1210 was every bit as good as the LP12 it replaced, after modding - mainly arm-wise and feet (Isonoe). Rewire, KAB damper, Sumiko headshell. A very capable arm that sounded great with my AT33PTG, and a half the cost of the Linn it replaced. I think the new G/GR should be a substantial step up though - the G in particular should be better in many respects as the arm is said to be very good. I preferred mine at the time to similar price point Regas just because the speed was so damn stable - try metronomic and very immediate.
Be interested in your thoughts on the fluid damper Alex, tempted to get one for my GR. When I popped in to Doug Brady's to pick it up they said a customer had replaced a pair of 1210 mk2s (presumably stock) with the GRs and was surprised how much better they sounded. They actually only bought one to see how it compared and were that impressed they came back for another.
My aural memory of the mk2s I once had is long gone, and the use case and listening environment is now significantly different