Hi, hows it goin, Im glad you decided to come here, Ive never had a teacher either and im sure the grand majority of people on this board can 2nd that, aswell as many many many professional players. And though I think it would probably help to get a teacher (as it would help anybody wanting to get better) , all he can do is give you the concepts and tips but not the practice, that you have to do on your own :) .

I gather that your eventual goal is to be able to improvise and also have a few nifty tricks, I would definately recommend chris's lessons on modes and pentatonic scales/modes found here http://guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=737 here http://guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=370 , and here http://guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=770 aswell as many other places around here. just run these scales up down and inside out every day and you should be ripping it out before you know it, also i stongly recommend the use of a metronome, because it helps you learn to stay on beat, it helps you track progess in the easiest manner and it gives you a movable floor so you know your never slowing down, just going up :). as for the nifty tricks do some searches (search bar top right hand of page) for harmonics, tremolo picking etc etc. also check google for other things not in the site( few and far between) like 3rd bridge playing, tricks from people like tom morello etc. etc.

peace and all the best in your travels