Australian Guitar celebrates the founding fretters of alt-rock in #147, on sale now

From the grisly grunge of Nirvana to the magical melancholy of The Cure, all the way to Courtney Barnett’s slacker-rock sizzlers and St. Vincent’s genre-bending gold – alternative rock is one of the most expansive genres in music, and undeniably one of the best. History proves it, with hundreds of acts carving out their own unique legacies over just a few decades. In #147 of Australian Guitar, we explore just a small handful of those legacies – 24, to be exact – in our endeavour to chronicle the pillars of alt-rock’s seemingly neverending rise. 

Elsewhere in this issue, you’ll find the ultimate guitar workout for 2022, with 10 pages of lessons sure to send your fretting fingers into overdrive. We also take a journey into the golden age of Epiphone – which is right f***ing now – and discover why it’s no longer just “Gibson’s cheaper little brother”. To that end, we caught up with the founder of Bare Knuckle Pickups to learn about the P-90’s big comeback, and weigh in on the debate of the decade: could online lessons ever really trump the classic face-to-face method?

There are plenty more questions answered in this issue, like, “Could an island retreat help me rekindle my love for the acoustic guitar?” And, “Where the hell did all these crazy new guitar designs come from?” We also explore the pros and cons between multi-effect units and traditional stompboxes, and dive into the delightfully dirty world of fuzz, boost and distortion pedals. But if you’d rather create something entirely your own, our DIY feature has you covered with the ultimate partscaster build. 

All of this, of course, is on top of our usual stack of interviews, gear reviews, columns and more. 

Australian Guitar #147 is available now at newsagents all around the country, and online via TechMags or iSubscribe.

Subscribe to the print edition of Australian Guitar, and you'll enjoy each new issue on the day it's published, delivered straight to your door.