To many players out there, a floating bridge is equivalent to the Floyd Rose locking unit as it allows one to raise & lower the played notes. The fallacy here is that a floating bridge need not be a Floyd Rose model & the Floyd Rose bridge itself comes in a version which doesn't 'float' (ala Van Halen's).
A floating bridge is common reference for a bridge unit which allows the whammy action to lower & raise notes as previously mentioned. The pic above shows my Fender Highway 1 bridge which is neither a Floyd Rose unit nor a locking variant; it's Fender's traditional Strat bridge. I've set it up to such an extent it rests in an overhanging position, not levelled against the body surface. This way, I can lower the notes & raise them as the need arises. This is how a non-Floyd Rose bridge floats, just as preferred by Stevie Ray Vaughan in his belated 'Number 1' Strat.
So the term 'floating' refers to how the bridge rests to allow a dual-whammy application, regardless if it's a Floyd Rose unit or otherwise.
