Kerry King plays his new $8,666 Dean USA V Limited Edition onstage, messes up song intro

(Image credit: Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)

Last week we unveiled the first fruits of Dean’s new collaboration with Slayer’s Kerry King, the very pointy (and, at $8,666, quite pricey) USA Kerry King V Limited Edition electric guitar.

Now, we’re happy to report on the guitar’s first user and, not surprisingly, it’s Kerry King himself, who wielded the new V onstage at Slayer’s headlining show at New York’s Madison Square Garden on November 9.

Below, check out fan-filmed footage from YouTuber Jim Powers of King putting his new Dean through its paces on War Ensemble, Stain of Mind, Disciple and When the Stillness Comes. And perhaps he’s still getting used to the guitar, as he clearly struggles more than a bit with the intro to that last song - although he laughs off any mistakes.

As we previously reported, the new model features a 'Kerry King V'-shaped mahogany body with a beveled maple top, Kerry King spec C-shape three-piece maple neck and a 24 jumbo-fret ebony fingerboard with pearl, stone and ebony Kerry King custom inlays and fiber optic LED side dots.

There’s also a Kahler KFK signature bridge, Floyd Rose R2 nut and Grover tuners, and pickups are a Sustainiac at the neck and an EMG 81 with PA2 Preamp Booster at the bridge. 

For more information on the USA Kerry King V Limited Edition, head to Dean Guitars.

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Richard Bienstock

Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.