Other featured musicians were bassists Max Bennett and Shuggie Otis (who was only 15 years old at the time of the session); drummers John Guerin, Paul Humphrey and Ron Selico; and electric violinists Don "Sugarcane" Harris and Jean-Luc Ponty.

Machines with 16 individual tracks allow for much more flexibility in multi-tracking and overdubbing than the professional 4 and 8-track reel-to-reel tape recorders that were standard in 1969.

[16] Zappa used advanced recording equipment to create an album of outstanding technical and musical quality.

[17] The colorful, psychedelic aura of the late sixties is apparent in the graphic design and photography of Hot Rats.

The front and back cover photos by Andee Nathanson use infrared photography and reflect Zappa's taste for striking visual images, combined with the absurdly humorous.

The inside of the original gatefold LP cover has a collage of color pictures, many of which were taken during the recording sessions.

"The Gumbo Variations" is four minutes longer; it includes an introduction and guitar and saxophone solo sections which were left out of the LP version.

A 2008 remaster of the original mix was used for a 2009 limited edition audiophile LP by Classic Records and for the 2012 Universal Music CD reissue.