Fred Oster

Fred Oster was encouraged by his cousin to play the guitar as a youngster, which quickly expanded to include playing the mandolin and the five string banjo. By the time Fred was playing banjo, during the height of the folk music movement of the early 1970s, he was hooked! He soon had the idea of finding old instruments and providing them to his musical heroes when they passed through his hometown of Philadelphia. In 1974 he established Vintage Instruments, a retail store that is now located on Broad Street. Over the years Fred became a repairman as well as an appraiser of vintage instruments. If you tour his store - which is set in a most beautiful 1882 five story house - you will soon realize that Fred is still as passionate as he has ever been!