Stairway to Heaven Guitar Solo.

I heard an old rule about learning guitar (pre-YouTube), Always play with people better than you! Well, that covered just about everybody I knew, so the field was wide open for me. Then I realized that everybody better than me was too busy playing with people better than them. As a result, I learned to play the guitar on my own. I played mostly with records (i.e., like a vinyl CD) and I learned rhythms and leads note for note. I could play a pretty good cover of a song, but when it came down to improvising on the spot, I was lost. Still I get lost from time to time... I play a lot of pentatonic scale based riffs in Rock and Blues songs and sometimes I can string together a solo, but not long ones. I tried looking for jam buddies on Craigslist and other sites, but people are just too busy these days. So, I just jam with CDs and plug away at improvising! I gotta send out a plug for a guy that is awesome at teaching guitar. It's so selfless to share guitar knowledge the way he does. Marty Schwartz. I'd love to hear how others have done it!