Guitar Direct In Signal SUPER hot on Motu 4pre

[frankthetank727]

I just picked up one of those new MOTU 4 Pre interfaces and I really like it, but I was trying to do some basic tracking today in Pro Tools 9 with my buddy and his guitar signal coming in was ridiculously hot. Even though I had the trim knobs as low as they would go it would clip often and I can't figure out how to control this signal. The pads on this interface only seem to activate when I have a microphone plugged in so I can't really think of anything else to do. We tried another guitar and the signal was less hot, but it was still in the yellow/red often. Anyone ever experience this or have any idea how I could work with this issue?

 

[bouldersoundguy]

I assume you've been using Input 3 or 4 meant for guitars rather then Input 1 or 2 meant for line signal. If the guitar has a piezo pickup it's possible that the input of the 4pre doesn't have a high enough impedance. A decent quality active direct box or a preamp designed for piezo pickups would probably solve the problem. If you have any guitar effects pedals around they sometimes can do the trick.

 

[frankthetank727]

Yeah I was using those 3-4 inputs. Then I tried the 1-2 inputs and the signal was pretty weak, but at least I could control it, however the tone sounded a little different.

These were the pickups in case you were curious
CarvinWorld.com - Guitars, Amplifiers & Pro Audio (bridge)
CarvinWorld.com - Guitars, Amplifiers & Pro Audio (neck)

So with a DI box you think I would able to control the incoming signal? Any suggestions for a not insanely priced DI box that should help?