I don't know what the original wood is/was, nor what the veneer wood is/was.
However you use veneer when you are trying to save money, or when the structural part of your project requires one wood, and the finish part another. A guitar or piano is a great example. They use one kind of wood for the case of the guitar and inlay decorative veneers. On a piano, the case is generally laminated maple, while if it is to be finished with wood, then a veneer is applied. If painted black, no need for a veneer.
However in the case of our wood, there really was no reason to veneer it except to save money. Today, the best wood as a replacement isn't a veneer. Even the costliest exotic wood you might think of to use, well, there's not that much of it to worry about the cost. In fact in the reproduction process, you still have to shape it, so why bother to veneer? It's another step and another cost.
The Authentic Classic reproduction (and I would guess many others) are not veneered, but solid wood. It was less costly than a professional re-veneering and restoration on my original parts.
