Watch out for stickers!

I know that many beginner players feel they need to mark the frets with numbers to get started playing.

Just be aware that stickers can damage the finish of your instrument. It's not just that the sticky goo can be hard to remove- but also having the stickers on for a while can change the color of the wood underneath them. I've seen many Ebay dulcimer for sale with little light spots of paler wood all along the fretboard where number stickers used to be. Even though the sticky stuff has been completely removed, the wood has turned a different shade.

This certainly diminishes the value of an instrument, so it might be worth a second thought before you slap on those stickers.

Is it really that hard to memorize where frets 1-7 are? If so, maybe you could just memorize frets 1-3 at first, and add to that as you get more familiar with playing beginner tunes.

What have you all tried successfully to remove stickers from your dulcimers without hurting the finish?

Any 'sticker stories' for our amusement?