The Fairbanks Piano Company of New York was first established in 1880. Fairbanks was a smaller manufacturer, and although the firm enjoyed modest success, they never built pianos in vast numbers as most other New York piano manufacturers. In the early 20^th Century, Fairbanks distributed many of their pianos from New York to Los Angeles and sold them under the “Southern California Music Company” label.

The Fairbanks Piano Company built a full line of upright pianos, player pianos and baby grand pianos, and their instruments were regarded as higher quality, well made instruments. By about 1912, the firm was primarily building upright player pianos, most of which included the renowned “Standard” player action.

Most Fairbanks instruments surviving today are upright player pianos, and they are consistently some of the better made player pianos we see. The Fairbanks Piano Company of New York is last listed in 1927, indicating that the firm was out of business before the Great Depression.