In what they claim is the biggest guitar ensemble in recorded history, a group of nearly 2,000 musicians gathered in a square in Warsaw on Tuesday to play a Jimi Hendrix tune.

Organizers claim 1,876 guitarists gathered in the city's market square to play Hey Joe, Hendrix's rock anthem.

The event replaced May Day celebrations, an often mandatory public display of solidarity when Poland was under Communist rule.

It was part of a larger Thanks Jimi Festival, which has been running for five years in the Polish capital.

Polish blues guitarist Leszek Cichonski, one of the organizers, said the number would be sent to the Guinness World Records book to confirm if it is the largest ever to play a single guitar song together.

Hey Joe is a tune many novices can master, because it has just five chords. Guitarists of all ages participated in the musical tribute.

It begins with the words "Hey Joe, where you going with that gun in your hand?"

"With the power of soul anything is possible," Cichonski said. "This is what Jimi Hendrix claimed 30 years ago, but it is still true."