I'll offer up some thoughts...
Thanks for such a thorough and thoughtful reply! My overwhelming conclusions based on the rest of the thread so far is that distinguishing between something like "plywood" and HPL is worthwhile (plus the Farralon Ekoa of laminated LINEN), but more broadly, that there are a LOT of ukuleles that sound great that aren't solid wood!
And maybe I'm not entirely insane to find so many of them so pleasing!
If you don't know of gotaukulele I would recommend looking that up. Baz does some great reviews in writing and on youtube of quite a few models.
Thanks, I do know gotaukulele! I started on the YT channel, then set up a home away from home at the website.
When I say that I kept being drawn to the sound of laminates I'd heard online, this is mostly what I meant. I know that there's not a 1:1 correspondence to how things sound on the internet and in person, but @BazMaz is so consistent in his approach that I feel confident that the comparisons between models at least within his Extended Cinematic Universe are going to make for a good starting point.
I'm glad to hear your report on Enya. I realllllly love their sound. That was one of the two brands I'd settled on based on a long time listening first to Baz, then to other folks I found.
The other brand I'd been circling around was Snail, another Chinese brand that leans to plywood. On the half-dozen reviews of various models, a theme emerged, that these sound a lot better than you'd think based on cost ($100-200 US for most of the ones Baz covered.) I'd saved a couple of quotes to my notes. These are all Baz talking:
• Snail as a brand have done it again. This is a terrific ukulele that easily gives Kala and Ohana a very hard run for their money on equivalent ukuleles. But as I say above, I think this is up there as a value alternative to a Pono.
• it's the character of the tone that shines for me
From the next concert model up:
• Every model I have reviewed sits firmly in the 'great score' section of this site. I think this one is a terrific alternative to some of the exotic wood laminate ukes from brands like Kala for example, and I think the price is actually a bit better too. Certainly a recommendation from me.
From his review of their entry-level tenor:
• I'd take this one over a host of solid wood ukuleles that are marketed at the same sort of price. In fact I'd take this over a host of solid wood ukes marketed at quite a bit more than this.
• It's an attactive, well made, punchy, light instrument and deserves your attention. This one really pleased me and I'd buy one!
From his Snail tenor review just a couple of weeks ago:
• As I've mentioned above the build and finishing here are exemplary. I really can't find any major issues with it anywhere and the gloss is an absolute mirror. It's also really light to hold and perfectly balanced. Another reason when I first unboxed it that I thought it was much more expensive than it is.
They're pretty much all a 9/10 in his book. There was still something about the Enyas catching my ear, and I was just about to pull the trigger when Snail had a pandemic special price for the first uke that Baz had mentioned, dropping the price briefly from $99 to $32! They didn't include a tuner at that price, and it's a downgraded bag, but for $32, I had plenty left over to spring for a tuner. I'm also still living the lockdown life, so an unpadded gig bag is fine.
I'm also happy to affirm Baz's assessment. This little Snail (a concert) punches WAY above its weight. It feels and plays like a real musical instrument, I wouldn't change a thing about the action (in reviewing one of the Snail tenors, Baz mentioned that if anything, it was a little lower than he'd have set it!), and it has a lovely voice. It has also held tune freakishly well. I've been really flabbergasted by that. I'm a uke beginner, but I've been around music for a long time, managing a concert hall for a few years in the Boston area. I'm comfortable saying exactly what Baz did, that this $100 Snail is completely legit, not only for its price, but even compared with solid wood ukes at higher prices.
My extremely happy experience with a plywood uke has made me realize that hey, maybe I'm on the right path here after all. There's good and bad stuff at every price range, and automatically assuming that all wood is the only way to fly doesn't seem entirely warranted, at least for me.
I'm glad that you mentioned Flight, too, Jer, because I'm currently thinking that my second purchase will be a Flight Soprano. I also love how this little fella looks! If it's even close to this nice, it'll feel like a good buy at $170-ish.
I feel guilty about this, though. I live in Kaneohe, a short bicycle ride from the Kanilea shop. I'd always assumed that I'd be working my way up to solid koa Kanilea tenor, with KoAloha in the mix for a soprano, because solid koa is definitely the "best", right? And indeed, while he may since have changed his mind, I discovered later in my research that Baz had mentioned that his go-to ukes at the time he'd written about them were a Kanilea tenor and KoAloha soprano, both all koa, both just over $1000 US. It felt good to have some affirmation about that initial inclination, but I'm just not feeling as strongly about that as my personal pinnacle anymore.
There's a whole 'nother part of my journey where I assumed that I'd also end up playing mostly tenors with low g because of the richness, but I find that I'm less and less interested in even having one in the collection. Maybe someday -- why rule out anything, right? LOL -- but for now, I'm mostly being drawn to small and bright. And every bit as much as the size, it's the chime-y-ness of these laminates that's really making me happy.
btw, it happens that there's another active thread coming at this from another direction,
$160 Kala beating up on the $470 Pono? In this case, the OP had been excited to step up to an all-mahogany Pono after playing a laminate body/wooden top Kala, and was surprised to find that he preferred the sound of the cheaper laminate.
There's more to the story than that, but I guess that's the point with this whole conversation about laminates and woods. There's more to the story!
Thanks again, Jer, and everyone else adding such insightful perspectives on all this!