Hi Robert,
 TH>> ...So what do you play/use (!)?  I'm a guitarist myself...  (still
 TH>> a bit of a beginner though )
 rl>       Guitar as well. Um.. Depending on the particular style fall I
 rl> across the ranges of novice to intermediate. Blues - babe in the woods,
 rl> Classical - a little better, Metal - intermediate. My own stuff is what
Pretty similar here - I've never really been into blues and classical guitar
music much, but since I've been playing guitar I've deliberately tried to
listen to it a bit.. ...Still doesn't do much for me though, I have to
say...  I'm not too bad at rock/metal guitar - I can play any given rhythm
part OK and a lot of lead stuff, although i have to practice and learn all
that - and I still can't play really fast lead (e.g. Kirk Hammett style
mad-guitar!) 
 rl> I tend to spend the most time on. Just seem to always end up working on
 rl> others stuff to find myself drifting into something that has nothing to
 rl> do with the piece I'm studying.
I'm trying to develop a style of my own really - so many people (usually
people who have guitar lessons, TBH ;)  ) seem to be able to just play
certain songs perfectly, but ask them to improvise a piece, and they're
back to simple scales!   My goal is really to have a really good
knowledge of different techniques, and to be able to apply them at the drop
of a hat, IYSWIM... ;)
 rl>       Do wonder sometimes how much of our own creations are truly new 
nd
 rl> unique, or (more likely IMO) something dredged up from our sub-conscious
 rl> from some tune we've heard somewhere and we simply change the phrasing,
 rl> key, and/or tempo and call it ours.
Hehe...  As long as nobody notices, then WTF! 
...but seriously, I think that there have only ever been a handful of truly
original musicians, (e.g Hendrix on guitar), pioneering new techniques,
which 20 years later become commonplace in the vocabulary of the average
player...  Sure, loads of really good musicians have taken the basic
formulas and mixed them around a lot, and maybe added their own touches, but
there is always someone who sparks the change ; it's never a constant
"evolution"...   
     XX......XXXXX..XXX..XXXXXX   T   I   M    H    A   W   K   I   N   S
    XXXXX..XXX..XX...X...XXXXX   Fidonet: 2:253/9.69 | LandNet 32:1/2.69
   XXXXXX..XXX..XX.......XXXX   604:2/302.69 DogNet | WCN 978:1/302.27
  XXXXXXX..XXX..XX..X.X..XXX   tim.hawkins @ axiombbs.traffcom.co.uk
... Keep hands off secretary's reproducing equipment.
--- Terminate 4.00
---------------