"And I still reiterate and wholeheartedly agree with Big Al when he says

"i think its just nice meeting other guitar players. i certainly owe my love of the instrument to the joy of meeting other people , watching what they do: saying how did you do that: i'd love to play that song - will you show me?; and just the fun of it all."

I played with someone much better than me and we would noodle round on tunes and songs. And he would say 'do you know this one?' and launch into things. And I would join in and play things. Sometimes he'd stop and say 'what did you there when I was doing x?' and that is for me what a lot of the fun is."

I'm in absolute, 100% Agreement with Al and Nick - I've been playing since I was 14, I'm 71 now, and I've always played frequently with others - even now I still play in a four-piece band and I'm always learning, exactly as Nick describes, from the other members. Absolutely the way for an aspiring guitarist to improve, and far quicker than trying to figure stuff out yourself (although that too has its own rewards).