Lisa Gass first became interested in music by studying violin at age 5. She also showed an early aptitude for wood sculpture, receiving woodworking tools as a cherished birthday gift. By 13, she had decided her true love was the string bass.

After graduating from Kutztown State University in Pennsylvania in 1976, Ms. Gass continued playing the bass as a freelance musician. She worked in Philadelphia for a rescue archeology firm. This began to mix with her devotion to the bass, leading to internships in repair.

In 1980, Lisa became a student at the Violin Making School of America in Salt Lake City. She augmented the intensive four-year course by building a bass in her modest apartment workshop. This arduous feat is still legendary at the school. After receiving her degree of Luthier in 1984, Ms Gass moved to the Los Angeles area, where she established and managed the bass department at the Thomas Metzler Violin Shop for the next thirteen years.