Dean's new Exile Select guitars are sleek shred machines

Though Dean made plenty of headlines last fall with its collaboration with Slayer's Kerry King, the $8,666 USA Kerry King V Limited Edition electric guitar, the iconic company's most impressive creation in recent months may have actually slipped under your radar. 

Back in February, Dean released the Exile Select Series, six gorgeously finished new guitars that promised to help players attain “the next level of shredding glory.” Intrigued of course, we asked Dean to send us an example from the new line. 

The guitar that soon arrived was impressive both sonically and - with an absolutely pristine Burled Poplar finish - visually. Handling everything we threw at it with aplomb, the Exile Select proved itself to be the sort of guitar that you can pick up and absolutely fly with right away.

Don't just take our word for it, though. See our own Paul Riario put the test model through its paces in the video above.

For more info on the guitars, step right on over to Dean.

Jackson Maxwell

Jackson is an Associate Editor at GuitarWorld.com. He’s been writing and editing stories about new gear, technique and guitar-driven music both old and new since 2014, and has also written extensively on the same topics for Guitar Player. Elsewhere, his album reviews and essays have appeared in Louder and Unrecorded. Though open to music of all kinds, his greatest love has always been indie, and everything that falls under its massive umbrella. To that end, you can find him on Twitter crowing about whatever great new guitar band you need to drop everything to hear right now.