Among God’s creatures two, the dog and the guitar, have taken all the sizes and all the shapes, in order not be separated from the man. ~ Andres Segovia
The old spanish masters built guitars on a plantilla - a workboard that defined the shape of a guitar - and many classical builders still do. The sides were carefully bent to shape and glued to a top that had been tuned by touch and sound. The guitars were built one at a time to create the voice the builder had in his head. In the old photos of luthiers shops you often saw guitars hanging on walls waiting further attention, not having quite yet met the maker’s mark. A far cry from the factory model.
Unfortunately, in the steel-stringed guitar world, factory techniques prevail. Factory-made instruments are assembled of pre-made components by many people each doing at most a handful of operations. This is very efficient, and those workers get very good at doing their jobs. This can make for beautiful instruments, but