Question of the Day - 13 May 2018

The iconic neon guitar that decorated the corner of Paradise Road and Harmon Avenue, outside the Hard Rock Café since it opened in 1990, was designed, built, installed, and rented to the Hard Rock by YESCO.

It was modeled after Pete Townsend's number-nine Gibson guitar. The Hard Rock actually owned the Gibson and lent it to YESCO, where the sign makers took its measurements to make the giant neon sign as realistic as they could. It was proportional at 22 feet wide by 80 feet tall and cost $386,000 to complete. 

We don’t know the details of the deal between YESCO and Hard Rock. It’s possible that nearly $400,000 for a sign was a little rich for the blood of the operators of the restaurant. It also could be that the undisclosed amount of rent YESCO collected on the sign over the 26 years of its existence more than paid back the original cost. One thing we can say, knowing that the sign was never sold: YESCO wanted to make a dramatic statement for the world’s first neon guitar. And it succeeded, in spades.

The Hard Rock Hotel attempted, reportedly, to buy it, but could never finalize the sale. Because the asking price was all of one dollar (yes, $1), we suspect that the hotel didn’t try too hard to close the deal. To begin with, the guitar needed a lot of work and the hotel would have had to pick up all the renovation and relocation costs. Also, it could be that there were already internal rumblings that the hotel-casino was on the auction block, so the guitar’s days were numbered as the icon of the Hard Rock (the property sold last month to the Virgin Group).

So ... YESCO donated the sign to the Neon Museum, which started raising the $350,000 needed to restore the guitar to its former glory. The last time we saw a number, the museum was almost halfway there. When it’s refinished and displayed, it will be the largest historic sign in the Bone Yard.