From Sister Rosetta Tharpe to Ronnie Yoshiko Fujiyama: how electric guitarists challenge expectations of gender

American gospel singer and guitarist Sister Rosetta Tharpe playing a Gibson Les Paul electric guitar on stage in 1957. Chris Ware/Keystone Features/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

I’ve been playing a 1963 Maton FyrByrd guitar since I was 14 years old. It’s Australian designed and made with the unique sharkbite body, and pickups named cool, midway and hi-fi.

With only 1,160 of this model produced between 1962 and 1965, it’s a rarity. But so too is its provenance. In lieu of jewellery, cabinet crystal or other family heirlooms, I inherited my mother’s electric guitar.