I had to accept a less than desireable shave as a newbe. Experience has improved the situation, but I still have trouble with the neck area. I have a lot of straights and I hone my own so I can tell you from experience that the razor itself makes a big difference when It comes to a problem area. Most any razor, even if it is not perfectly honed, will shave the cheek area for me pretty well.
I do the best at shaving the neck area with a sharp but very smooth blade using very little to no pressure. I have also found that a slightly angling or slicing razor stroke to be effective. That is pretty tricky because any slicing motion really really wants to cut meat. When using a very smooth blade I can get away with more than with I can with a less smooth one. Also, regarding the direction of the stroke, the closer I can get to cutting ATG the better because those whiskers lay very flat.
Anyway I hope this info can be of help to someone but be extra careful if you try the slight slicing stroke. Finding the limits might be bloody!