Dude they make all types of cool noises. They are different cause they are able to bend way more than a regular styled strat trem (i'm sure you see the physical difference). Dude it ain't nothing better than i love to hear is when some one does a pinch harmonic and throws that floyd around. I'm not sure but i think van halen made em really popular and every guitarist coming up wanting to sound like him bought one. I may be dead wrong but that's what i was told about how they became popular.