I've been playin for about a year now and Ill tell you what I did. For the first 4 months I played NOTHING but my acustic guitar. toughens those fingers up and teaches you the basics. Then My dad bought me an electric guitar and amp and I bought a distortion box. THats the style i wanted to play so why not start early? Since then i have played GOOD metal, like metallica, slayer, etc and that has helped me alot. Now i can play solos and what not. LATER