Hammond L-122

Tony Banks had used the Hammond L-122 valve tonewheel organ frequently with Genesis, starting with the Tresspass album in 1970. He bought one when Genesis scraped together some money (£600 or £700 UK pounds) to buy equipment, and roughly half the money went towards buying the organ. Tony initially played it like a piano (his first instrument), having had no prior experience on an organ, but as more time passed he gradually became more comfortable with the Hammond. He used a home-made Leslie speaker with the Hammond, which was sold in 2001 from the equipment barn on Genesis' Fisher Lane Farm.

He later replaced it with the Hammond T102.

Quotes on the Hammond L-122
"'Before the Tresspass LP [Genesis] started rehearsing a lot. And then we began to play 'live', and were considering going professional. So we went around to our parents' and got a bit of money off them. Not very much - £150. So between four people we had £600 to [buy] equipment with. We spent 350 quick ones on an organ - a Hammond organ. I had no clue as to what I was buying. We went into the shop, and the first organ I saw I said 'Yeah, I'll have it'. I really didn't want to try it in front of people. Fortunately, I was very lucky. I got a Hammond L-122, which is a very good organ for anyone to start with. Slowly I got into playing it. Mostly I was treating it like a piano; it took me quite a long time to get used to it. I still prefer the piano to the organ, I must admit.' (Contemporary Keyboard, October 1976)"