A huge group of Australian guitarists just set a new world record

(Image credit: James D. Morgan/Getty Images)

It’s official: a crowd of 457 Australian guitarists is now the largest electric guitar ensemble ever assembled.

Meeting on 12 August 2018, the players were all equipped with Marshall MS2 mini amps and performed - of course - AC/DC classic Highway To Hell, with Aussie pub-rock legends The Choirboys leading the six-string charge.

Participants received the amps upon handing over the $45 registration fee - all the money raised went to the Australian Children’s Music Foundation.

Official Guinness verification can take up to six weeks, but given the previous record featured 368 guitarists (set in India in 2013), we’d say they’re pretty safe.

There must be something in the water over in Aus at the moment, because this latest record-breaking success follows a superhuman countryman who played for 125 hours to break the record for longest guitar marathon.

Michael Astley-Brown

Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism, and has spent the past decade writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as a decade-and-a-half performing in bands of variable genre (and quality). In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.

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