Agreed...acoustic 1st. However, I disagree with the need for a teacher. While I've had 3 different teachers in my 13 years or so, they didn't teach me anything that wouldn't come naturally (skillwise) or isn't available online (theory-wise). I found merely playing with others (jamming, trading licks, songwriting, etc.) and learning songs from cd's are the quickest and best ways to develop. I'm not saying lessons are bad, or you shouldn't take them, just that you can do just fine without them. Especially with a site like this to resource from if you get stuck on something.