Signal too hot

I have a Motu firewire Mk3 audio interface.  I am finding that using the guitar input on the front the signal is too strong and I get lots of peaks in X1.  There doesnt seem to be a way to roll back the level other than using the volume on the guitar which I would rather not do.  Has anyone experienced the same and what did you do to get around it.  I am running the guitar straight into the interface.  No pedals or anything in between.
 
Thanks,
John

You dont want to turn down the the pickups on the guitar.  That will change the tone.  Just wondering if anyone else has had this problem and how they have gotten around it.  Maybe a DI box is needed. What would be a decent quality one for guitar.

I tried that the device only has a control for trim and it is set to the minimum.  It only seems to boost the level not cut it.

Maybe a dumb question but did you switch the front panel toggle switch on the input from mic to guitar? That changes the input impedance.

If this is a new unit, it might be bad.

Did you check this: 

V-Limit™ hardware limiter
Both mic/guitar inputs are equipped with V-Limit™, a hardware limiter that helps prevent digital clipping from overloaded input signals. With V-Limit enabled, signals can go above zero dB (where limiting kicks in) to as high as +12 dB above zero with no distortion due to digital clipping.

If nothing else works, see if you can dig up a volume pedal (maybe you have one lying around in a closet)?  An active one would affect the tone less than a passive one, but it's still something you might try.
 
Practically speaking, if the volume knob is wired correctly, the setting of the knob should only affect the tone if the input impedance of whatever the guitar is plugged into is on the lower side, say, well below 100k Ohms. This might be true for certain guitar amps. But the Hi-Z input on most interfaces is much higher, like 1Meg or more, so they don't present a significant load on the guitar output, which translates to no electrical change when moving the volume pot (knob).
 
You may already be aware of this, but our ears perceive tone differently at different sound pressure levels. So the tone of your guitar may indeed not be changing when you turn it down... it just sounds like it's changing. You can prove this to yourself: Have you tried lowering the volume knob so that you don't clip when you record, then gaining up the track to the same level to listen to it? If you haven't yet, you might be surprised!

Hey Dave... where did you find that hardware V limiter? Looks interesting... I'm assuming it treats or supplies feedback differently in respect to the digital realm compared to analog and what we are used to with 'traditional' hardware limiters? Cheers.