To celebrate International Women’s Day, we highlight 8 signature guitars that deserve your attention – including models from Fatoumata Diawara, Susan Tedeschi, St. Vincent, Yvette Young, and more

For as long as most of us can remember, the guitar industry has been a boys’ club. From ad campaigns to signature series, it’s mostly been men designing, building, and, most visibly, slinging guitars on the world’s biggest stages. But as any music fan knows, that’s never been the full story. Women have always been there, pushing boundaries and making their mark, even if the gear world hasn’t always recognized it.

Now, International Women’s Day is the perfect moment to spotlight just how much things are changing. In the last few years, we’ve seen more and more women getting their own signature guitars, and frankly, it’s about damn time.

In this collection, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite artist models to shine a spotlight on these standout instruments and the artists behind them, showing how female signature models are changing the face of guitar for good.

Daryl is a Senior Deals Writer at Guitar World, where he creates and maintains our 200+ buyer’s guides, finds the best deals on guitar products, and tests the latest gear. His reviews have been featured in prominent publications like Total Guitar, Guitarist, Future Music magazine, and MusicRadar.com.

During his career, he has been lucky enough to talk to many of his musical heroes, having interviewed Slash and members of Sum 41, Foo Fighters, The Offspring, and more. In a past life, Daryl worked in music retail. For a little under a decade, he advised everyone from absolute beginners to seasoned pros on the right gear for their needs.

Daryl is a fully qualified sound engineer, holding a first-class Bachelor’s degree in Creative Sound Production from the University of Abertay.