Hi Ben,
I've gone this route, literally upgraded my 1210 to within an inch of it's life, with all the best parts ie: Isonoe isolation feet, Mike New ETP platter, Mike New bearing, Mike New bearing base plate, Micro Seiki MA202 tonearm, Ortofon pure silver headshell leads, ebony armboard, Paul Hynes SR7-21 EHD external power supply with pure silver pure silver deck to power supply lead with Jaegar low impedance connector.
No expense spared, spent a shed-load.
Would I do it again? no.
Was it worth it ? For the experience and learning - yes. Financially no
Hindsight is a wonderful thing and if I knew then what I know now I'd have gone the route I eventually have - Technics SP-10......
Anyway, My advise is that you dont need to go crazy and spend mad amounts of money to get good results and enjoy the 1210.
Mine thrilled me to bits with simple mods and an Ortofon 2M Black on groove tracing duty
Bare in mind that once you change the tonearm you lose the excellent and super convenient Technics on the fly vta, it's a compromise if you are going to use top carts like the 2M Black but wont be deal breaker if you dont intend on using carts with Shibata profiles like the 2MB which are very finicky/fussy about setup and in particular vta.
Keeping things simple, cost/spend conscious but effective, I'd definitely go:
-Isonoe feet, look cool IMO and are certainly better than the stock feet in terms of isolation, clearly made better in terms of absorbing vibration over the stock boots.
-Get one of the reasonably priced off board power supplies
https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/35251584344...hoC9PkQAvD_BwE There are other 12XX exteranl powers supplies out there including Origin Live and Paul Hynes etc, have a search
- Micro Seiki MA-202 tonearm - A very well made and respected vintage tonearm which I think matches the 12XX beautifully. You should be able to pick up a tidy one for under £200, then send it to Angus (Phonomac) for an overhaul, re-wire and new hybrid ceramic bearings. It also has on the fly vta. Not quite as slick as the techies on the fly but on the fly all the same and most certainly a good thing to have than not.
See images here for an idea of the MA-202 on a 1210 with ebony armboard
https://theartofsound.net/forum/show...ht=music+maker
- A good decent cart - lots of choice and doesnt need to cost a fortune
- Ebony armboard from Magna Audio here (Speedy Steve)
I wouldnt waste time messing with mats but up to you.
The above shouldnt get silly on spend and will give you a very nice sounding player, a defo step up on what you have without the credit card repayments/debt or remortgage
P.S - Keep your eye on Private Exhibitions, good deals can/do pop up