I still miss Larkin. She was a staple in many of larger dulcimer festivals and her classes were warm and helpful. My copy of her book, which was part of my first dulcimer purchase, usually went with me to festivals. While at the Memphis festival in 1996 she signed my copy which has made it more valuable to me.
I met Russ at a local event in 1995 or 1996. I had obtained my first dulcimer from the Flat Creek dulcimer shop in Hardy, Arkansas and was looking for an instrument for my wife. He did not have a dulcimer with him to meet the need so I made an appointment to meet with him at his shop. We spent 2 or 3 hours with him selecting a dulcimer and he offered to give me a tour of the shop. Russ and his wife were gracious hosts. I left with enough information and inspiration to start building dulcimers. We looked forward to seeing them at local vending events. His fretboards were a little narrow for me but Russ had no problem with it and his fingers were about 1.5 times the width of mine.
Rather than using shelf liner try a natural shamois skin, the soft and absorbent animal skin sold for drying your car after a wash job. I used it for years without it adversely affecting the finish on the dulcimer.
The “possum board” is sometimes an enhancement to the volume of a possum fiddle.
Picture! Picture! Picture!
