Art Gifford, an assembly technician at Gable, works on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, on the future guitar sign that will stand nearly 63-feet tall outside Hard Rock Casino in Rockford. Gifford is working from Gable’s headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Susan Moran/Provided by Hard Rock Casino Rockford)

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — For the past five months, a team of dozens of workers at a sign and visual communications company in Baltimore, Maryland, have meticulously crafted the future showpiece for Hard Rock Casino.

Next week, the nearly 63-foot tall replica of one of Rick Nielsen’s signature checkerboard guitars is expected to make its debut. It has already struck a chord with its makers at Gable in Baltimore and with locals who see it as a future landmark.

“In my 40-plus years in this industry, this guitar will be one of Gable’s most exciting and iconic pieces,” Matt Gable said. “I have heard from the majority of our staff and there is consensus that this guitar ranks near the top of most exciting and iconic pieces.”

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The sign will come here in four sections that each arrive on their own semi-truck. Two of the trucks will be completely covered while the other two will carry components on flatbed trucks covered with shrink wrap.

Shipments are expected to start arriving either Tuesday or Wednesday, and installation should be complete by the end of the week.

“We cannot wait for this to happen. I think it’s beyond exciting for the community,” said Kristen Paul, executive vice president of the Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. “As a lifelong area resident, to see that space come back to life has been really exciting and now this showpiece is going to be added.”

For 50 years, the roughly 100-foot Clock Tower stood at the same site as a local landmark and a sign to visitors and residents that they were in Rockford. The tower was torn down in August 2018 as investors in the casino cleared the shuttered Clock Tower Resort to make way for Hard Rock, 7801 E. State St. The casino is slated to open Aug. 29.

“It’s a whole new look from what the Clock Tower was,” Paul said. “I think it will absolutely be a landmark. I think people on the highway will see it and want to know what it is. I think people coming home will feel it — that they’re home when they see it.”

One of one

Richard Street works on the future Hard Rock Casino guitar sign on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, at Gable in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Susan Moran/Provided by Hard Rock Casino Rockford)

The sign is unique in the true sense of the word: Its design is one of one.

Gable is known for creating unique and larger-than-life specialty pieces of architecture. This project, which started with an electronic version of the 3D model provided by Nielsen’s team, is a one-off design that has never been made to this scale or size, Gable said.

A countdown clock to shipment was illuminated in the Gable workspace as the team assembled the guitar’s components.

“This type of project also weighs heavily and creates quite a bit of stress and accountability that we take very seriously,” Gable said. “We realize that when accepting a project such as this, you assume the responsibility to deliver the best work possible, meeting all expectations of all stakeholders.”

More than 75 of Gable’s team of 160 worked on the guitar, which required thousands of labor hours from various departments at the company, Gable said.

The project required creating specific CNC router files for all the pieces and components. Gable’s metal fabrication shop then built the steel and aluminum sections that created the overall shape of the guitar.

The guitar then makes its way to the finishing department to prep, sand and fill the seams of each section and ensure the black-and-white checkerboard pattern properly aligns. It’s primed, masked and painted with several coats.

“I am in absolute awe of this guitar,” said Alyssa Hankins, project coordinator for Gable. “The blood (hours), sweat, and literal tears, that have been put into this guitar shows through the photos …”

Richard Street takes a measurement on the future Hard Rock Casino guitar sign on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, at Gable in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Susan Moran/Provided by Hard Rock Casino Rockford)

The guitar is largely made from steel and aluminum. The woodgrain-style guitar neck was achieved using vinyl laminate and inlays, Gable said. The frets on the guitar neck are built from aluminum tubes, and the tuning pegs are built using various CNC-routed aluminum components. Those components are built separately and welded, ground smooth, assembled, primed and painted.

The guitar’s volume control and other 3D elements come together with a combination of CNC-routed aluminum and other outdoor durable materials.

Lastly, the guitar strings and perimeter outline are achieved using faux neon white LED tube lighting.

“I take special pride with this project as Cheap Trick was one of my favorite bands in the 1970/80s,” Gable said. “For me personally, I have many relatives in the Chicago and surrounding areas that will see this landmark piece and know of Gable’s intimate involvement.”

Matt Gable in his office at Gable in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Susan Moran/Provided by Hard Rock Casino Rockford)

Paul, the VP of Rockford’s visitors bureau, said the guitar can be a point of pride for the city, too.

“It highlights another local person and local band that just shows the amount of talent and the amount of awesomeness here,” Paul said. “What comes from Rockford is great and Rockford’s future is great.”

Fast facts | Hard Rock Rockford guitar

Height: 62-feet, 10 inches

Width: 38-feet, 6 inches

Weight: 14,000 pounds (approximately, including steel support structure)

Made by: Baltimore-based Gable

This artists rendering shows an early concept behind the checkerboard Rick Nielsen guitar that will stand in front of Hard Rock Casino in Rockford. (Photo provided by Hard Rock Rockford)

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas