Particularly when it comes to semi-acoustic instruments it may be worth noting that possibly the most popular ever jazz guitar made by Gibson, the ES 175 - played by such luminaries as Joe Pass and Pat Metheny, are made from laminate. I own an L4 (solid spruce carved top) and a 175 and my 175 sounds better both amplified and acoustically. I think any of the many owners of vintage laminate archtops would be quite surprised to to hear them refered to as ply. At the end of the day the only statement that can be made with any certainty is that "Some laminate instruments will sound different to some solid tops, but then some solids will also sound different.
I have a Kala archtop tenor which sounds great to me. Acoustically it's not too thin or bright, it's quite punchy with a more rapid decay and not too ringing. It's perfect for jazz, but a folk or country player would probably prefer a harsher tone. There definitely seems to be a slight solid wood snobery with uke players, but I would say go with you own ears and taste. I'm sure there are some really bad solid wood ukes out there.
It's funny, but time and time again I see the question "How can I tell if a uke is made from ply?" on forums, and many experts respond with advice about looking in soundholes etc - If they sound so much better why would you need to look in the soundhole?
I have a Kala archtop tenor which sounds great to me. Acoustically it's not too thin or bright, it's quite punchy with a more rapid decay and not too ringing. It's perfect for jazz, but a folk or country player would probably prefer a harsher tone. There definitely seems to be a slight solid wood snobery with uke players, but I would say go with you own ears and taste. I'm sure there are some really bad solid wood ukes out there.
It's funny, but time and time again I see the question "How can I tell if a uke is made from ply?" on forums, and many experts respond with advice about looking in soundholes etc - If they sound so much better why would you need to look in the soundhole?