Replying to ATTN NS Guitarists.... I need your help.

Alrighty everyone, I've decided its time to take a break from piano and learn me some guitar.

Got a lil acoustic that my dad used to play, its not broken or anything, functions just fine.

I want to know what you guys would recommend I do to learn guitar - My goals are more or less to play like some of the rock greats - David Gilmour, John Petrucci, Hendrix are all huge influences.

Consider the level of playing that Petrucci is at, that goal is ridiculously far off at this point, but hey, why not?

Coming from piano, I have a pretty solid understanding of theory, I know my modes, scales, chords, arpeggios, cadences etc, but I don't know how they work from a guitar perspective.

My goal is more or less to get to the point where I can write and play my own stuff, but have it be more than your average 4 chord progression - I want to be able to play solos, improvise, and generally just be a fairly solid, well-rounded guitar player.

At this point, I have next to no idea what I'm doing, and anything you tell me will help a ton. NS might seem like a strange place to ask about this kind of thing, but I'm asking other places too, and I know a few of you shred guitar. I guess what I really need is a bit of direction.

+K for all who help!

Thanks everyone.