Fans work to keep iconic Hard Rock Sign rockin’ on

Maybe the giant neon guitar that stood at the entrance of the Hard Rock Cafe Las Vegas on Paradise Road isn’t the flashiest neon sign ever created by Young Electric Sign Co., which has been producing some of the city’s flashiest signs since the 1930s. Still, when the Hard Rock closed on the last day of 2016, there was no guarantee that the sign wouldn’t go the way of so many hotels and historic artifacts in Las Vegas — to dust. But thanks to YESCO’s donation of the sign to the Neon Museum, the restored guitar one day will again rock on. The museum is conducting a crowdfunding campaign to raise the estimated $350,000 needed to refurbish the guitar and display it. The guitar soars to 72 feet on its own, and to 86 feet when you include its base. Guitars eventually became the Hard Rock’s signature signage, appearing, with variations, at other locations.