The man who developed the Race Sensor was Don Race Sr.

Don Race Sr. had been involved with Fender since 1967, working on improving amplifier speaker designs, serving as a consultant, and resolving issues related to pickups.

Then, in 1979, he founded Actdine General International (AGI) and began developing pickups in earnest.

In the early days of AGI, he worked out of his home garage with his two sons, Don Race Jr. and Jeff Jr., manufacturing functional components called solenoids.

Since problems with the coils often arose during solenoid manufacturing, Don Race consulted with Leo Fender and Don Randall.

Fender was also struggling with issues such as pickup returns, so he had developed a relationship with Don Race through these consultations.

At the same time, Fender was looking for low-noise pickups, and Don Race was chosen for the job.

Don Race developed a pickup featuring a bobbin called the "Microtrick Comb," which had a comb-like shape with 36 teeth on its top surface.

This Micro-Trick Comb could capture more information from string vibrations than a standard single-coil pickup.

Because it could be built with fewer turns than a standard coil, noise was also reduced.

This is the famous Race Sensor.

Fender was impressed by the Race Sensor’s innovative design—which incorporated the principles of Fender’s single-coil pickups—as well as its modern, pole-piece-less appearance, leading to an exclusive contract with Fender that lasted for ten years, from 1986 to 1996.

The Race Sensors produced during this period are marked “Fender Race Sensor” on the top of the pickup.

There is another person whose role was indispensable in bringing Race to Fender. That person is Seth Lover, famous for his work on the “P.A.F.” Seth Lover had been working at Fender since 1967 and was responsible for developing products such as the “Wide Range Humbucker.”

When Race was conducting experiments with the Race Sensor, the guitar on which he mounted the prototype pickup was an original guitar owned by Seth Lover. Seth’s admiration for the pickup was one of the key factors that led to Race being incorporated into Fender guitars.

The Race Sensor, created in this way, was used by many artists, including Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck, and its popularity skyrocketed.

Don Race Sr. passed away in 1992, but his two sons carried on the Race legacy. Since then, they have continued to develop cutting-edge products, such as the "Tran-Sensor" and "Alumitone," which reduce the pickup coil by 95% and offer low-impedance characteristics despite being passive.