What a coincidence to read your post, Irishguy. I just ordered a Malmsteen Strat last week and I'm actually listening to "Unleash the Fury" as I type this.
As for your question about cost to scallop, I noticed that Warmoth charges $90 to scallop from the 12th fret on up but that only charge $20 more ($110) to scallop the entire neck. I also checked around on the 'net to see what some others charge and one luthier I saw charges $110 for half the fretboard but only $160 for the entire neck. So it looks like you'd save a bit of money getting only part of the neck scalloped but it's really only a little bit more to get the full fretboard done. I guess there's something to be said for buying in quantity.
As you probably know, there are several options for scalloping. The 2007 Fender Malmsteens have relatively deep scallops over the fingerboard. Some guitars are only partially scalloped, from the 12th to the 22nd or 24th fret. Steve Vai's Ibanez JEM's are scalloped only for the last four frets.
Another scalloping approach that may appeal to you is the progressive scallop. I have a '97 Blackmore Signature Strat from Japan that has this sort of scalloping. In progressive scalloping, the scallops get deeper as you move further up the neck. The scalloping is also deeper on the treble side of the neck as opposed to the bass side. That means that down where one would play a lot of chords, the scallops are shallow but up where you would likely play lead lines, the scallops are deeper. Blackmore uses this sort of scalloping which is why it's on his signature guitars from Fender.
I hope that info helps.
