Floyd Rose Rout

[Wizard of Wailing]

    I'm thinking of getting a Floyd on my next Strat build.  It seems like the recessed rout is the way to go since Warmoth says it offers more movement.  The only downside seems to be it takes a bigger chunk of wood out of the body.  Is there any advantages/disadvantages that I'm missing?  Warmoth also says the bridge radius is 10".  Does that mean it will feel weird on the 10-16" neck?

 

[SustainerPlayer]

Warmoth also says the bridge radius is 10".  Does that mean it will feel weird on the 10-16" neck?

You can shim the saddels and get the 18.5 radius needed to match the neck. You can get shims here or make them yourselves if you are up to it.

 

[NLD09]

Warmoth also says the bridge radius is 10".  Does that mean it will feel weird on the 10-16" neck?

You can shim the saddels and get the 18.5 radius needed to match the neck. You can get shims here or make them yourselves if you are up to it.

It didn't feel weird to me, but I ended up using the shims anyway because I had ordered them, and not knowing if it actually made a difference was bugging me.

The only reason that I like top mounted Floyd Roses is because there's more space between the strings and the pickguard. I like to dig in when I play, so for some reason it's more comfortable for me. I still set the Floyd to float and have plenty of room for upward and downward motion, but then again, I don't do crazy whammy pyrotechnics like Vai, either so YMMV.

 

[line6man]

The amount of wood that gets removed is ridiculously small. There is no disadvantage.

As far as recess versus non-recess, that's a personal preference. I prefer recessed, because it allows much more room to bend up, and it generally looks nicer.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

I prefer recessed partly for pulling sharp, and for just a general blend of bending down/pulling up on a regular vibrato.  Ronnie Montrose dit this a lot in Gamma, and Brad Gillis is the obvious stickout as he trademarked this in Night Ranger.  Some times I'll do that with my left hand, sometimes I'll use the bar, whichever I think serves the song best in that moment. 

The other reason that I prefer recessed is that my picking hand prefers a low profile so that I'm not way up off of the guitar body.  Even with a tunomatic bridge, I prefer it recessed also.  It's more of a comfort issue.