Why do some necks feel "hard", and why i cant play crackwood

[watelessness]

For quite some time now I couldn't figure out why I didn't get along with crackwood necks. after much research, I think that it's because of the lack of a tactile surface. for me to grip a neck, it appears that my thumb and palm require a certain degree of friction. The more my hand slips around, the harder I have to squeeze, which causes my playing to suffer. thoughts on this?

so the second observation is that crackwood and bare maple necks feel "hard". Are they really harder than mahogany such that it would be disernable to the naked hand, OR is my perception just a function of the lack of a tactile surface?

 

[justmund]

Interesting thought process you've got going on. I've never appreciated any difference between finished vs. unfinished necks apart from it's far easier to move up and down the neck (for me) on an unfinished neck (I'm putting a PRS Maple sunken finish in this category).

How big are your hands, and how are you gripping the neck? I tend to use a lot of my palm on the back of the neck as an "anchor" instead of my thumb if that makes sense.

Rosewood and Maple are harder than Mahogany, well according to the Janka rating anyway:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janka_hardness_test

But I'm not sure if the wood actually "squishes" when one grips the neck, and from what I know about V12, it's supposed to be very hard, which would also affect the feel. Do you feel any difference between V12 and other finishes on your guitars?

 

[László]

It's not the wood.

You know when football guys say a receiver has "soft hands?"

It's the hands.

 

[alantig]

This guy

says you need some of this...

 

[Gibson67v]

This guy

says you need some of this...

unbelievably awesome!!

 

[Egads]

Fr the most part, I prefer a more natural feeling neck-- my first PRS was a CE24 only because I liked the finish on the neck so much more than the Custom I was also looking at. Now, crackwood: AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!