one correction – Squires are made of ply – yourve probably better off with Mexican strat – it that the sort of sound youre after.

: I would like to know if there’s a big difference between a epiphone black beauty and a squire strat. And so yes, what are the differences.
: Thanks

I presume by black beauty you mean the epiphone les paul custom. The differences between epiphone les pauls and squire strats are the same as the differences between real les pauls and strats made by their famous respective parent companies gibson and fender. They are just cheaper, though not bad, versions.

For starters the epiphone Black Beuaty is primarly a mahogony body and glued in neck – with some alder at the back. (the real thing is mahogony with a high grade maple top). This gives the guitar a very rich, woody almost tarry sound – with masses of sustain. This ideal for rock. Also it has high output double coil humbucking pickups which are very weighty though not that dynamic. They sound great through overdrive though a bit muddy clean.

The squire on the other hand will probably have a bolt on maple neck and lighter poplar body (real strats are alder or ash). This will gives a lighter more percussive sound. The single coil pickups are very plucky though a little thin, they sound great clean though can be a little fuzzy through overdrive with the wrong amp. Note for the price of the epiphone you could go one better than a squire and get a mexican fender strat.

At the end of the day it boils down to whether you like Les Pauls or Strats – I love both for different reasons. You can hear samples of the guitars you black beauty and squire try to emulate via http://www.gibson.com and http://www.fender.com

This might also help

Famous Strat Players
Jimmy Hendrix
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Richcy Black Moore
Eric Clapton

Famous Les Paul Players
Slash
Gary Moore
Marc Bolan
Jimmy Page (though also Telecasters)

: I would like to know if there’s a big difference between a epiphone black beauty and a squire strat. And so yes, what are the differences.
: Thanks
If i were u go for an epiphone, Ive never seen or heard of the black beauty but ive got a squire, ive had it for three years and the volume control is very dodgy, I personnaly wanted a Epiphone SG or flying V but I couldnt get a decent sound without putting in emg pickups, so i went for an ibanez RG 450, which was really cheap second hand. but it really depends on what music your playing.
I hope this is of some use. I would like to hear you final decision