Axe, you were asking about the book on modes I got. Its called "Modes for Guitar" by Tom Kolb, you can find it on Amazon by clicking here. To get the most out of Tom Kolb's book, you'll want an easy way to be able to play your guitar along with the supplied backing tracks. His examples are not heavy rock, but they get you thinking about how you can apply the scales and modes you're learning. Some of his examples are quite challenging to play at the speed he demo's them. If you learn how to play them slowly, you can still utilize them playing along with the jam tracks... just play the riff slower and with different phrasing.

The other book I've found helpful is "The Guitar Fretboard Workbook" by Barrett Tagliarino. Click here for the Amazon link.

This book helped me with understanding intervals on the guitar, both moving up the fretboard and crossing strings. There isn't a lot on modes, and what there is, comes much later in the book. Still a good book though.

Lastly, there's Steve Vai's 10 hour workout book (here) This is a pretty crazy workout regime, but what I found interesting is that Vai talks about how he only learned one pattern for any given scale or mode, and that was just to get the sound of the scale into his head. Once he'd done that, he'd practice playing the scale up and down the fretboard, in any and as many different ways as he could. If he made a mistake, he'd start over. This way, he learned scale without being dependent on patterns. I can tell you though, that's a ton of work... I really don't have anything against patterns, and for us mere mortals, that might be the shortest and most successful route for soloing.

For learning modes, there are a couple of specific suggestions I'd have for you... (I'm still learning them too, but this is what I'd do if I were you based on what I've learned so far).

-get the Tom Kolb "Modes for Guitar Book".

-make sure you are setup with something that allows you to easily play along with backing tracks. You need to be able hear the track, and have a guitar sound that you really like so you'll be inspired to be creative and experiment.

-do what Christopher suggested... pick a mode, learn it. Stick with it. (Aeolian/Minor is a really good one that you can do a lot with... that would be my first choice). Focus on getting this one mode down... you should be able to hear the mode in your head, driving you crazy with soloing ideas as you try to get to sleep at night.

-if you have any questions about how to apply the mode you're working with, ask Christopher. He is a wealth of knowledge. He has the deepest understanding of theory of anyone I've seen online. The more specific the question, the better he can help you. When I was a full member, I asked him some very specific questions about rhythm and timing, and he gave me excellent helpful direction... just try to make sure you've answered your question on your own first, and you're truly stuck. But if you're in doubt about something... if someone starts talking theory talk that you don't understand (even me!), Christopher is the go to guy for setting you straight.

If you need help finding a way to jam with backing tracks, let me know... there's lots of options, and its really one of the best ways to understand and use modes.