I'm no expert either, but I don't think all laminates are created equal. I don't know what Martin uses in their HPL for their guitars, but that is one of the best sounding laminates that I have ever heard. I was very impressed by the tone of the Little Martin (Koa Laminate) that I just bought. As an aside, if you're looking to move from ukulele to guitar, I highly reccomend the Little Martin, the scale feels just right. The guitarlele was too small for me and didn't come in steel string, the 1/2 scale guitar I had was just too small, and a full size guitar takes a bit of stretching. But the Little Martin is perfect. So comfortable to play! And the sound is good too! I think part of it may be due to their HPL (High Pressure Laminate) wood, which is better than I had expected. I'm not sure what they do differently (probably just higher pressure lamination as the name suggests), but the sound is better than other laminate guitars and ukuleles that I've played. It feels more resonant and responsive. The Little Martin also comes in 3 different finishes, which are all laminate, and I suspect they all sound the same. Since they all cost the same, I went with Koa b/c I'm an ukulele player after all. And yes, the Little Martin feels invincible. Even the neck is a laminate for more resistance to warping. But enough about the Martin...
Overall I do think the laminate methods make the sound different, but the surface wood is probably purely cosmetic.