When do you make the move!!!!!

I was sitting playing my guitar yesterday and my brother had a few of his mates in the house as well. And when I went in the kitchen for a drink of juice, one of my brothers mates (who's been playing guitar fro 3 years) said I was really good on the guitar. He then asked how long I'd been playing and when I said 5 months his jaw almost dropped. He said I was really good for only starting 5 months ago and said he'd never realised I was beginner unless I had told him. I said I wasn't especially talented, I just practised quite a lot. And that's when it I asked myself, when do you know your not a beginner any more. Is it how long you've been playing? How many songs you know? How well you can play?

I see myself as a begginer even although I know a diverse range of songs. I can play all the chords and scales cleanly and quickly. I don't stick to just lead or rhythm guitars parts and switch between them. I have a very good vibrato technique (due to me playing Cello when I was younger) I can play hammer-ons and pull-offs with ease. And just last week I mastered Stairway to Heaven (albeit the solo is a little stripped down but still very recognizable). But I still see myself as a begginer. So, my question is, when did you guys think to yourself "I'm REALLY good" and you felt within yourself that you were not a beginner any longer.

When your local guitar guru/hero says you're good... that's a big step. The best player in town thinks you're good, then you probably are (hopefully he won't be too arrogant to say someone else is good).

I think whenever you meet your own definition of good, like being able to read music, or play a certain song, or pick up songs by ear, or play really fast, etc, thats one definition of good.
Another is when someone who knows what they are talking about says your good, like another good guitarist, or a music teacher, like what theDirt said.
Oh yeah, and I felt I wasn't a beginner once I successfully made it into my first band, whcih is actually where I learned that I could do things I didn't know I could before, like solo.

I think your good when you can put on a record and figure out the chords to it and solo over it too.

You never run out of things to learn, so I don't think you ever 'get there' unless you become smug and complacent. As for beginning, that's as much a matter of attitude as the range of techniques you've acquired. You can master hammer-ons & pull-offs, but still be a begginer at tapping. In general terms, though it sounds like you are past the beginner stage in most ways. Calling yourself a beginner at this stage may come across as false modesty. There's no harm in drawing some satisfaction from your achievments. (I've been playing since 1968, and I still don't have the Stairway solo down pat!)

I was worried that it would come across as false modesty becuase I played Sweet Child O'Mine and Paradise City (all the way through, albeit with some natural mistakes) to this guy and he INSISTED I had been playing for longer than two years.

The way I see it is this, When you just sit down (or stand) one day and just play something and completely and utterly blow yourself away,Where you just look at your guitar and say.."Wow...Did I just play that?!!" Then your good. But thats just what i think. It's really just a matter of opinion i guess.