SLAYER's KERRY KING: Limited-Edition Guitar Introduced By DEAN GUITARS Assembly Shop Manager (Video)

April 14, 2020

Last November, Dean Guitars released a limited run of 50 handcrafted USA guitars designed in collaboration with SLAYER guitarist Kerry King. Each USA Kerry King V Limited Edition 50 Pc guitar is priced at $8,666 and can be ordered from the Dean Guitarsweb site.

In the four-minute video below, Pat Baker, Dean Guitars' USA assembly shop manager, introduces the USA Kerry King Limited V.

In December, Dean Guitars CEO Evan Rubinson told Stay Metal Ray that the partnership with Kerry was "a long time coming. " He said: "I've known Kerry for a while, but clearly, [he's] been with B.C Rich for 20-plus years. And one of my other artist relations guys, Josh Maloney, was good friends with him as well. So we had a few dinners and a few conversations. And [Kerry] said, 'Look, new ownership at B.C. Rich. I haven't gotten a new guitar in six, seven years. I'm ready to make something happen.' So we flew him out here and designed some guitars. Here we are."

According to Evan, the affiliation with King is "a dream come true" for Dean. "And now to have Dave Mustaine [MEGADETH], Dimebag [PANTERA], as well as Kerry King, under one roof, it's incredible," he said. "And hopefully we're gonna do something really cool with a three-guitar package — one with each artist that is super iconic, and it'll be a limited series. This is in the works right now — no guarantees — but something where we'd have one exclusive guitar for each of our iconic artists and we'd sell it as a package as kind of an exclusive thing — hand signed, artist appearances and the whole deal."

Detailing the various Kerry King guitar models that are going to be coming to the market, Evan said: "My idea is good, better and best. So we have the USA, of course — it's kind of on its own. We have the limited run that we're starting with, but then we're also gonna have regular-production USA guitars. But the good, better and best will all be imports. The best will be about probably a 1,399[-dollar] guitar, and that will have Kerry King's signature Kahler [bridge] on it. It'll have the Sustainiac [pickup]. It'll have almost an identical replica of what he plays; it'll just be an import model. And that's gonna be the highest end that we make that's gonna come from overseas. Then we're gonna do kind of a middle tier, probably around 699 [dollars] or so, and that will still come with a Sustainiac. It will come with a Kahler, but not a Kerry King signature, and it'll have a few downgrades, so to speak. And then we're also gonna do probably a 399- or a 499[-dollar] that may be a fixed bridge Kahler instead of the tremolo system. And that, of course, is gonna cater to the intro guys and maybe people that are saving up for that 1399."

Rubinson went on to discuss his general approach to designing Kerry's signature guitars. "I don't want anything to be disingenuous," he said. "So if an artist loves what they play, I don't wanna try to modify just to be commercial. So the thing with Kerry is, he said, 'Look, this is what I play. This is what I wanna produce.' And I said, 'I agree. That's what we need to do. We need to have your Kahlers on there. We need to make it work.' Even though Kahlers are USA made and very expensive, we're still finding a way to make it work at that price point. But the big part is Kerry was receptive. He understands that he also wants to ingratiate a new and younger generation to his guitars, and some of those people can't afford that souped-up, perfect guitar that has the Kahler, the Sustaniac and everything. But they still get to have a Kerry King guitar."

When the King-Dean partnership was first announced, the guitarist said: "I'm super stoked to be part of the Dean Guitars family. This has been an insane long time coming! Together we're going to create some amazing guitars that Dean, SLAYER and Kerry King fans will be as excited as I am to play them. It's gonna be a wild ride for years to come!"

Find more on Slayer
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).