What makes up the Roobarb and Custard theme?

For a seventies cartoon tune, this is DAMNED heavy. But I've got a hunch it isn't guitar, especially in the first 7 seconds. Is it brass being used?

 

It's apparently electric guitar,

Roobarb and Custard review: Britain’s answer to Top Cat

Though to my ears it sounds like when I put my keyboard through a distortion pedal. The notes are a bit clipped and exact for guitar. Not impossible, just... My two cents. Got a bit of a distorted wah sound to it, though.

 

Ahhh Roobarb and Custard and the Steve Hoffman Forums... together at last!

Sounds Moogish to me. Whatever it is it was one crazy kids' TV theme. Loved Richard Briers' voice too.

 

A guy at work was tapping out the rhythm on his desk... He was impressed I named the song immediately!

It's so distinctive, seemed obvious to me!

 

Ive been known to say "Oh no! Not another one" in Custards nasally voice more than once or twice

 

Might be the same synth type thing as son of my father

 

I just ran my Moog into a fuzz pedal and played that bass intro on it. With some tweaking & eq it sounded virtually identical to the original. So imho it's most likely a fuzzed-out synth line, not a guitar.

Catchy little tune. Never heard it before, but now I can't get that bass intro out of my head!

 

Many yeats ago I came across a pedal called a Funny Cat by Roland. Pretty basic in some respects and not very useful but it did have an overdrive section that could replicate that guitar sound exactly. Gigging in the 1980's if anything went wrong, like a string break or the singer falling over (a frequent occurrence) I'd play the riff...
Sounded great with a Led Paul the other guitarist hated that riff with a passion. Never found out why.