[jkubik]

I have been playing on and off for about 25 years. I too took piano lessons when I was young and drums, trumpet, music theory in high school. I played in a local band about for about 2 years, 10 years ago. After I quit the band I didn't pickup my guitar for over 9 years. Now to the point. I started playing again last year and in doing so I realized I don't have very good technique on the acoustic. I forgot how much I loved playing and decided to get serious. Since being pretty much self taught on the guitar I tried and practiced for 6 months without making too much progress. 3 months ago I bought a 710CE-LTD and started taking private lessons. What a huge difference this has made. I know that private instruction is more expensive but having a teacher that can tailor the lessons to your particular wants and needs is invaluable and will help you progress much quicker. Also play with others as much as you can, it's like free lessons. If you can find someone to play with that is willing to give you tips, show you techniques and learn songs to play together, that will probably help you more than anything. I live in your area (near La Mesa) and can suggest a very good teacher which I found after a lot of research and talking to other players and intructors in our area. If you would like his name and telephone send me a private message and I will gladly respond with the information.