Question: I recently bought a 2012 Spring LTD Taylor GS Mini Rosewood, and I was wondering how the wood laminates in the GS Mini Spring Limited Series (or the standard Mini) can sound different if they are all just laminate back and sides with maple, rosewood, blackwood or sapele veneer. — Gabriel N.

Answer: Good question, Gabriel. The answer is they don’t really sound different. If they do, it’s very little difference, and it might not even be because of the sapele versus rosewood, etc. That’s the thing about laminates. One truth: We make very, very good-sounding laminate guitars; just play them and tell me they’re not. Another truth: No matter what type of outside veneer we put on them, the sound changes very little if at all.

This is what you get with solid wood that you cannot get with laminates. They’re both good guitars, but with solid wood you hear the personality of the different woods. With laminates there is only a visual difference.