“The holy grail!”: Watch Måneskin’s Thomas Raggi play one of the first ever Fender Strats
“In this case of course, it’s a masterpiece!” Raggi said of the guitar, which was only the 588th ’54 Fender Strat ever made.
Thomas Raggi. Credit: Scott Legato/Getty
Måneskin guitarist Thomas Raggi got a surprise when he stopped by the legendary Norman’s Rare Guitars store in LA recently.
Raggi was in Los Angeles on tour, where the Italian Eurovision alumni were booked to play the Forum, and he was shown around by owner Norm Harris himself.
In a video of the visit, Raggi is seen examining a 40th anniversary 1954 Fender Stratocaster reissue in two-tone Sunburst and Harris sets up an amp for him to give it a play. However, later on, Harris surprises Raggi by giving him a different sunburst Strat sourced from his mythical “back room”.
“That is a ’54 reissue,” explains Harris. “And this is a real ’54,” he continues, handing over “the holy grail” for a shocked Raggi to try. “This is number 588. One of the first Stratocasters ever made.”
“It’s so sick,” comments Raggi. “I love, also, the action – it’s really nice. And, in this case of course, it’s a masterpiece!”
The Strat is in rather good condition for its age, despite a bit of wear on the maple fretboard. Raggi is clearly keen to see what the guitar can do and is later shown playing Jim Hendrix’s All Along The Watchtower with the store’s resident in-house shredder Michael Lemmo.
Check it out below:
Raggi is known to own a red Custom Shop ’63 Strat and a Squier, and previously told Guitar World he prefers the latter.
“It’s one of the older ones from Japan,” explained Raggi. “I used to play only Fender Strats. To me, a Stratocaster is like a complete instrument. I love how you can play funk and rock and metal with a Strat. It’s a very comfortable instrument, too, so that’s pretty great.”
In other Måneskin news, the Italian quartet collaborated with Dolly Parton for a rock version of her hit Jolene.
The hit was originally released as part of her 1974 record of the same title, but has been given a makeover for her recently released rock album, Rockstar, which landed last Friday (17 November).