Your idea of using a preset and 'dialing it back' is similar to my approach when using these plugins, as they're generally far too prominent at their default settings. As you mention, there's many parameters to get your head around, and you can end up chasing your tail with these as you gain experience with the controls.
If you're looking for more useful presets, you could take a look at the free preset collections on the manufacturer's websites. Sapphire has something called FX Central, which boasts that it has presets designed by some industry leading artists. Could be you'll find something more suitable for your project. Since you only have Sapphire 6, you'll need to be aware of the possible problems with some of the presets only working with newer versions, but there's collections going back to 2013, so you should find something that works for you.
Point your browser to...
http://www.genarts.com/fx-central/looks-collections
Bruno