I plugged in a Fender Strat, boosted the gain and that was that

My keyboards don't offer enough gain and the "hi" gain on 3-4 would of been helpful

You can crank this bad boy and still get some transparent gain that most entry level equipment doesn't offer.

I work as a technical trainer and use the 6i6 along with a broadcast quality mic (Shure SM7B Vocal Dynamic Microphone, Cardioid) to run live training sessions as well as to record tutorials (I do have an additional mic preamp/processor in my chain: