And watched a doco on guitars being louder last night (jimmy page, the edge, jack white). Again the rare motivation to learn electric guitar has temporarily resurfaced, but i'm unsure how "genuine" this urge is.
Well, eh... how genuine that urge to learn the guitar is depends on whether or not yer gonnae stick with, beit if yer just starting out or picking it up the guitar again looking to challenge yersel' as a player and learn summit new.
And you saying it has temporarily resurfered gives me the impression that the urge is there, but you might not persist with it for long. Unless of course you have a goal in mind? Learning how to master certain techiques, particular songs you'd like to learn how to play from start to finish.
If electric, COULD i make some cool effects & EASILY? DO i need to 1st get good at acoustic?? Really tho, i'd PROB need to get into a ROUTINE of playing acoustic? (just never can be bothered, for some reason). Or would the electric give me motivation on-the-spot? I think i'd be interested in the special effects i could do, at a guess. Would i like to learn covers of songs? Maybe (i'd hardly be able to make my own music?). All these questions, and no way to get all the answers...
Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! 
Hawd oan a minute... Pause, rewind! Start fae the beginning. Jings! Sorry, yer jist flingin' questions it me with this post. But ah cun answer yer questions cuz ma oldest sister wus wondering the same aboot the bass guitar.
Firstly, learning the acoustic guitar would give you good basic knowledge to begin with, if ye plan to moving to the electric but cannae afford it the now. As far as knowing chords, and how much pressure you need to apply to the string to sound a note. So that's the only advantage of it, really.
And, aye, yer right. The electric guitar would gie ye mair motivation, and easier access as a frets beyond the 12th fret goes. And you said ya want to learn some cover, so there a reason to invest in an electric guitar. Though, the passion really needs to be within ye if ya want to get anywhere with it, as far as practice goes. And doing that often.
Really once you've learnt how to read tab, and ye start training yer ear to recognise certain notes, it's a doddle. Not that it's easy, like. But it'll get easier once you start making progress with the guitar.
If I had a single bit of advice it'd be: take it slow when learning covers or certain techniques. I mean that in terms of in learning a new technique and when learning covers, and the speed at which yer playing. Don't try playing up to speed until you got each part of a song or a technique down. Then once yer confident that you know it then bring it up to the original tempo or faster. And after awhile you be able to play it from memory.
And don't underestimate yersel' as far writing yer ain music goes. Once ye get good at guitar, you'll eventually attempt to write yer own stuff. I mean, I'm no a drummer and I've wrote 3 metal-inspired drumtracks which I could turn into full songs with this software.
Toontrack's EZDrummer 2 - Drumkit from Hell Demo
So don't downplay what ye could achieve with the electric guitar, since learning cover songs can help you become more knowledgeable in how to play the instrument.
F**k! Whenever I got bored in music class in secondary school I'd just start improvising and come up with my own stuff, the only reason I remember most of the riffs I wrote during that time is because one of my classmates said: "Hey, that's good. Play that again".
Or, I distinctly remember one time I got bored and started playing this riff that had the top E string as a pedal note, sliding power chords going up and down the fretboard. After playing it a few time, one of my classmates goes:
"That's sounds familiar - Metallica? No? Megadeth, right?"
Nope, neither! Just came up with it, on-the-spot"
"Really?! You were just making that up as ye were playin' it?"
"Uh-huh!"
"Naw, you practiced that. Admit it!"
Kinda. Ah got start of the riff from Total Guitar. But the pull off and sliding chords are just me jamming", as I demonstrate those parts.
"Whoa! That's a helluva riff!"
Then I proceed to try and show the lad, who was a couple years older than me, how to play it.
"So, yer gan open, slide up to here, pull-off..." After a few minutes of me showing him here all the notes and chords are. I take the guitar and show him again. The lad, after looking at me mouth apage, went:
"Huh?! Yer downpicking the whole thing? How d'ye... Awww, f**k off! Yer just showing off now. Naw, man - I'm out! Too difficult for me, I'll stick to jamming with you on covers"
Sorry ah digress there. Just thought I'd thrown in that amusing story from my secondary school days.
