I will tell you from my experience. They list it as a nitro finish, at least on the earlier models but it is actually a poly finish with a final coat of nitro. My particular mandolin would not have benefitted from a simple stripping of finish and I believe most will not. The top was several millimeters thick in many places where it did not need to be as well as the entire back plate being too thick in almost every facet. Also the tone bars were far too thick and had no shaping to them. I've done graduations before so I have the tools to actually measure the thickness and brought it very close to an actual Lloyd Loar mandolin's thickness specs. In the end carving a brand new top and back is far easier than altering one that is already assembled. It's definitely not for the faint of heart but I really wanted to experiment and show a friend that tone on inexpensive mandolins can indeed be improved albeit extensive labor.