Much speculation has risen when deciding on going laminate or solid wood for a guitar (due to the price of course). Everyone will tell you that you must go solid to reach the full potential of an acoustic guitar. All about tone and power and whatnot. Don't get me wrong, I'm one of those as well, telling you that a solid wood guitar will always be superior to any other. I'm a guitar Lover, something about them that I always stop and check one out if one happens to cross my path. Inspecting and playing for the right to judge it's construction, playability, and sound.
My first guitar was a foreign piece from Nicaragua, for me, it was the nicest sounding guitar I've ever played (and first one at that). Guitar Center was the go-to-place for me after my first, thinking in my mind, "yeah, i'm part of the guitar click now". Comparing her to many other beauties in the store and receiving feedback from the store clerks was fun for me. Until, they hit me with the "this guitar is made out of plywood". I had to sit down and take a breath as this came as a shock to me. Couldn't believe my ears, but true, my first guitar was a cheap plywood piece. After that, it worked as a placebo effect, other guitars starting sounding better than mines (in the same day) after the news.
My interest in wooden guitars grew when I made a trip to a Luthier shop in Nicaragua. Watching the Craftmans make these impeccable looking things from basically a chisel, a drill, and a table saw. Nothing to do with what I've seen about Gibson guitars on Discovery channel. When I mean Handmade, it cant get any more crafty than this unless you scrape the wood with your fingernails. I had to make a video on how they make these guitars: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwYptY2azcI
I've had these people make dozens of guitars for me to sell online and around my area. For the price and the quality of wood, you couldn't beat 'em. Some eBay customers had bad intentions though and would take advantage of my return policy. For me to find out that these people were luthiers and only purchased them to see their competition. It did discourage me a bit since the limited guitars I had were being returned with damages from these A%$*#&@$.
Anyways, back to the subject at hand. With all of these Solid made instruments in my possession I never dared touch a plywood back and sides guitar. When I started to take the prices of solid wood guitars against nonsolids under consideration, that's when I started noticing that some nonsolids are actually not that bad at all. You will have many people say that the top of the guitar is what really matters, even my luthier friends will say that. But, for us few perfectionists that have that keen hearing ability, you will notice a difference in the type of back and sides you use. Even though with that being said, plywood is not all that bad if you have a solid top on the guitar.
I played a $1200 Taylor the other day and it didn't sound that bad (these are the cheaper ones). It had a low-mid grade top (one I can get on ebay for probably $6) and a laminated rosewood back and sides. The construction was impeccable, should be a huge factor in whay it sounded so nice. A while back, I remember playing a $150 Valencia guitar with a solid cedar top. The thing was not bad at all, even for a mediocre player as myself. With some better strings the guitar would've been ready for action. Not that I'm going to switch or anything from a solid wood guitar to a laminated one but you can find some real nice and cheap laminates out there.
Now, in my opinion, I love to see the wood age and I love to smell the wood of the guitar as well. When I receive the Mahogany and Spanish Cedar guitars, you'll see my nose stuck in that soundhole. With time you will have a nicer sounding guitar on a solid body unlike the laminate. If you are looking though for something to just have fun with, I wouldn't worry too much about it being solid wood or not. If you want to compare prices, I've played $400 laminated guitars that sound better than a $4000 solid body guitar. It depends on the builder as well, I'm not going to call anyone out.
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