Im not sure but it could possible be this
if you look at gibson guitars, they come in 3 types, solid, chambered and swiss cheese
The first Gibsons were solid guitars, then later on (i think 1981ish) they changed to swiss cheese, here they drilled very large holes (not very strategiically) into the body of the guitar and then covered it up with wood to make it look solid, Gibson then realised they were still Heavy and the ungraceful swiss cheese holes werent that great so instead they cut chambers (strategically) into the guitar to make it much lighter and balanced.. So if you buy a Gibson its more likely than not to not be a Solid Body, to get a Solid Body Gibby you need to go second hand vintage or you need to get a custom shop or one of the more expensive models.. all the standards/classics/traditional models are either chambered or swiss cheesed
Solid Body gives you a different sound to the rest but is extremely heavy so its tit for tat and its all up to preference
Even the Solid body Gibson is not one peice of wood, it is two, it is the mahogany body with another layer ontop of different wood to give it the look you want
the Gibson Zoot Suit has many several layers of two different colour woods placed on each other which are squeezed into place..
it is a bonded guitar yet it is still regarded as a Solid Body, and it ends up being really strong... it would take 2 Pete Townsends to break this apart (apparently)
http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/geek/gars/images/9/6/2/1/Zoot_2.jpg
perhaps the body is solid as the ad says (which is what counts for sound) and the sides, which are decoration, are just bonded on like the Gibson covers?
sorry if this doesnt help... goodluck 8)
