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OK - you've been practicing for a long time, you're at the point where you can actually tolerate your own playing, and you want to get into the local scene and start jamming with other musicians of similar (or, ideally, somewhat better) ability.  How do you go about this search?  There are several ways to encounter guitarists and other musicians:

• There are several on-line communities whose sole purpose to to enable musicians to meet each other.

Site	Comments
AMMO (Amateur Musicians Meeting Others)	I have no direct experience with this site yet. I've never heard anything derogatory about it, and it's been in business for quite a few years.
Bandmix	the most well-known and utilized site for contacting bands or musicians - search by type of musician or band in a defined radius of your city (5-120).
Craig's List	it's incredible how FAST and easy it is to find musicians, collaborators, partners, etc. with Craigs List. I have used this resource increasingly over the past 6 mo., and I've always gotten multiple replies within 24 hrs. Obviously, your mileage may vary, but if you want quick action, I'd start here.
Musician Meetup Groups	"Meetup is the world's largest network of local groups. Meetup makes it easy for anyone to organize a local group or find one of the thousands already meeting up face-to-face. More than 2,000 groups get together in local communities each day, each one with the goal of improving themselves or their communities."
Instrument Network	"The InstrumentNetwork started in 1999 with the creation of a few guitar sites. Over the years as more sites were created we decided that we needed a central hub for all the sites. A central place to meet and share music and videos and site content from the network."
Jam Session	"Jam Session guitar forum and this whole website is all about guitar (and bass guitar, banjo, mandolin, ukulele...) -- the instruments and the guitarists who play them. It focuses on learning the guitar, playing it, fixing it, customizing it, and, yes, even building a guitar from scratch."
The Musician Locator	"The Musician Locator is the world's place to find musicians."
SonicBids	" I got the inspiration to start Sonicbids as a result of my experiences as an agent. Every week I was getting buried with press kits from many, many talented artists who wanted to get booked by us, but we just could not afford to take on. So I thought — and this was 1999 or so — "if you can trade stocks and buy books online, why can't you get a gig or book a band using the web?"

• IMNSHO, the best of them all is Bandmix.com, which I have used extensively myself.   You enter a short profile of yourself, list your influences and equipment, and decide what you're looking for - a band looking for a guitarist?  Other musicians just wanting to jam?  Some who wants to form a band that might get a record contract?  Or someone who just wants to jam occasionally, with no additional commitment? 

You can search their large database on these and other criteria.  The best way to limit your search is to enter your zip code and decide how many miles you're willing to go (or expect someone else to come). A recent addition is the code for a widget that can be pasted into a blog or web page. Here's mine (don't click on the link to my profile; it'll be stuffed into the tiny window! To see mine, go to Bandmix and search my name).

• E-Jamming - A relatively new technical breakthrough enables musicians to jam together, in real time, regardless of their geographical separation. Current platforms include: eJamming AUDiiO (reviewed in Technology Review), JamBands.com, Synthopia, and Internet Jamming. The most advanced is called RiffWorks, which allows musicians to collaborate, chat, and jam together. Here's a short review.
  
  
• Start going to "open mike" sessions at local clubs/bars where live music is featured.  If you like, at first, don't bring your instrument - just go in and see what the scene is like, how people are chosen to play, whether they play alone or in small groups, the average level of proficiency (if it's an established jazz club and every single guitarist could blow you away, it's probably not a good choice for you at this point), and other characteristics of the session.  Keep looking until you feel comfortable, and could envision yourself playing with the other players without being embarrassed; next time, bring your axe!
  

• Hang out at your local guitar store!  Personally, I (and quite a few others I know) have found this to be an excellent way of meeting other guitarists - I just grab a guitar, sit down and start playing a few jazz riffs or something similarly attention-grabbing - NOT "Stairway"!), and sooner or later, some people will start wandering over to see where the music is coming from.  You then can strike up a conversation with whomever you get good vibes from. 

I've actually made my most valuable and enduring associations just this way.  It costs little time and no money, and as long as you don't spend hours every day there, the staff usually won't mind at all.  (It's a good idea to buy something occasionally, so they recognize you as a paying customer, not just a hanger-on who plays their demo instruments but never spends any money.)

• Make an eye-catching flyer, laying out who you are, what your qualifications are, and what you're looking for, and ask the local music stores and music clubs/bars if you can hang one wherever other have hung theirs.  Be sure to include a bunch of tear-off strips at the bottom, with not only your phone number and email address, but your name and what you are ("electric guitarist" or something similar).  Many people put only their phone number on the strips, not thinking that when someone who liked what they saw on your flyer and tore off a strip won't remember anything about you when they get home and find the strip in their wallet! 

On the flyer, it's not time to be humble.  Don't boast or brag, just state simply what your level of proficiency is, how long you've been playing, who your main influences are, and how you'd rate yourself ("6 out of 10", etc.).  But be honest - if you're very good, say you're very good! (As Buddy Rich used to say, "it's not bragging if you can back it up!")

Here's a short list of musician communities, which are some of the very best ways to connect with other musicians with similar interests & experience. You can look at others' profiles, and narrow a search by several factors, including distance.

Remember, a large page of this site is dedicated to guitarist communities, but not all exist to get musicians together.

Don't be discouraged if you aren't swamped with phone calls the first week you start looking.  These things take awhile, but you can have faith that you will score what you want, if you have some patience and follow through on anyone who contacts you. 

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