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You obviously know what you need to work on.  There are no hard and fast rules as far as what to work on when; choose one or two things from your list, and spend a few minutes each day working on those things.  Every few weeks, add something else to your list.  I have found that there are more things to practice than there are hours in the day; too much to ever get bored with.

Listen to some good blues; you'll figure it out.

Try learning slide, that's an "authentic" blues technique.

These books have helped me a lot:

Guitar Basics by Bruce Buckingham http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Basics-Ess … amp;sr=8-2

and Fretboard Logic by Bill Edwards http://www.amazon.com/Fretboard-Logic-S … amp;sr=8-1

Have fun, and good luck!

Many of the folks over on gretschpages.com have played both; and while the 5120 is by no means in the class of the "pro-series" models, most profess to be impressed with the quality and sound of the 5120, particularly at its price point.  The stock humbuckers on the 5120 are darker and not as Gretsch-y sounding as the filtertrons that come on the 6120, and the 5120 is a slightly heavier 5-ply laminate whereas the pro series are a lighter 3-ply.  I'm sure there are other construction differences, but those are the biggies.

It is pretty simple, and not too terribly expensive, to make a "budget 6120" out of the 5120, I've done it to mine with a custom pickguard and jackplate, rocking bar bridge, grover locking tuners and TV Jones pickups.  My total investment is around $1100 including the guitar, parts and labor; half of what you would pay here in the States for a Pro-series.  I haven't had the opportunity to do a side-by-side sound comparison, but I think mine sounds awfully good.

Well, if you're not made of money, then a Gretsch amp is pretty much out of the question.    If you ever get a chance to play through a Variety, do it!  Then lament the fact that you can't afford the thing.

Seriously, just about any tube amp will do, I'm very fond of my Fender Blues Jr.  I also like the sound of the Hot Rod Deluxe, and many Gretsch players like the Fender Blues Deluxe and the Deluxe Reverb Re-Issue.  You're looking for lots of clean headroom for that twangy "Great Gretsch Sound" but that touch of tube breakup when your amp is working hard is kinda like the sound of angels.

One word of caution regarding the 5120, but look carefully at the back of the guitar before you buy.  There was apparently a batch of too-long sound posts in some made last year, which caused hairline cracks in the center of the back.  I haven't heard of any problems with the 2008 models (stock with the silver pickguard), but exercise a little caution with anything having a clear pickguard and/or a KS07 serial number.

Plus, in my experience, chicks really REALLY dig guys in kilts. 

My own answer to the question, "what are you wearing under that kilt?" is very simple: "Lipstick."

I have three (3) Gretsch Electromatic guitars, a 5120 (black, heavily modified), a 5122 (walnut, replaced bridge with a Rocking Bar Bridge), and a 5296T Pro Jet (stock); all are excellent instruments right out of the box.  The only issue that many owners have with these guitars is that the stock humbuckers don't sound "Gretschy" enough, they sound midway between a Gretsch and something like a Gibson P90, so many folks replace them with TV Jones pickups.  Everyone I've corresponded with who owns one of these guitars agrees that they are quality instruments, that the fit and finish are excellent, that they sound great and look fabulous; but they are a modder's dream come true.  If you live anywhere near a dealer, I highly recommend going in and playing one, you won't regret it.  Just be ready to start wanting one REALLY bad...

There is no comparison between ANY Epiphone guitar and a Gretsch White Falcon.  I personally feel that there is no practical comparison between any pro-line Gretsch (any model starting with a 61xx) and any other semi-hollow guitar, period.  It's very nearly comparing apples to oranges, the differences are that pronounced.

That said, any hollow bodied guitar is most likely not going to give you the sort of heavily distorted sound that is associated with contemporary Metal music.  There might be someone out there doing it, but I don't know who that might be; that person is proving the old adage that the sound is in the heart and the fingers.  Doesn't change the fact that it's easier for most people to get bluesy/jazzy/surf/rockabilly out of a hollow body than it is to get Metal.

In order to improve your picking speed and accuracy, you have to start by going slow.  And by slow, I mean mind-numbingly, stupidly slowly.  The goal here is to teach your picking hand and fingers where the strings are, and how to skip between them without having to look.  So if you don't have a metronome, get one.  A cheap tape recorder helps too.  Set your metronome to 40 bpm, and start doing down-picks on the sixth string, one per beat--don't bother to fret any notes.  Tap your foot to the beat.  After 16 beats, move to the 5th string (still just down picks); 16 more and move to the fifth, and so on.  When you get to the sixth string, go back up.  Then, do the same with just up picks.  After that, do it with alternate picking.  As you get to the point where you don't fumble the string changes and don't make any mistakes, gradually increase the metronome's beat rate.

If you record yourself, and spend 15-20 minutes a day on this, you will be able to hear massive improvements.  The good news is, that as you get faster and more accurate, getting even faster gets easier.  Once you get to 100 bpm, go back to 60 and do eighth notes (two per beat) and keep going from there.  When you get back to 100 bpm with eighths, go back to 60 and do sixteenths.

Very soon, you will be so bored with this you will think about giving up.  When you get to that point, combine it with your scale exercises-- that is, instead of not fretting any notes, start playing  your pentatonic scales (or whatever you're working on) in the same way, at whatever bpm you've worked yourself up to.  You will find yourself improving by leaps and bounds.