Yes, learn your pentatonic and blues scales but don't get so caught up with only those scales. I did and for a long time and it certainly held me back to a degree because one tends to fall back on what they know.
Learn the major scale over the entire fretboard, all positions. Once you do that you will be amazed at how much easier it is to learn modes...which you will want to do even if only later on. Everything, and I mean everything, starts with the major scale.
Start with learning easy solos from bands you like. At the time, for me, it was the slow first solo to Master of Puppets. Stick with what you like at first and "practice" will be a joy.
And the big one.....LEARN SOME BASIC THEORY. Start with understanding the I-IV-V relationship. Even great players who claim they don't know a lick of theory, in reality, actually do know a bit just from experience. Their ear might dictate where to go but the ear is bound by the same rules that define theory.
-Tom