When I pull a shot, I get ~1-1.25 oz in 20-30 seconds; however, the shot ends up blonding too quickly and the crema is a tan color, not a reddish-brown. What can I do so that the shot does not blond as quickly and so that I may have darker crema?

Could be one of many things. How old is the coffee? If it's more than ten days, you may want to dose higher and grind coarser. Are you using a bottomless, or is channeling a possibility? How does the espresso taste? Low dose/fine grind shots start with slower and darker flow, and get lighter and faster, than high dose/coarse ground shots. But they still can taste better.

The coffee is 5 or 6 days of today. The pull starts pretty fast with a lot coming out at first then remaining consistent. The espresso, when I tasted it on some of the foamier milk in my cap, reminded me of soy sauce, very weird. But it tasted fine at first. Even though all grinders differ, my Rocky is at 12 or so, although I know the 0 is correctly set.

The only espresso that reminds me of soy sauce was the one that the grind was very tight and dose lower. You may try grinding coarser to see if the flavors opens up a bit and get less bitters.

What brand of beans are you using? When you say 5 or 6 days, is that since you opened the bag on since the coffee was roasted?

Beans-Metropolis Coffee Co, it says it was roasted on the 31st, i opened it the day after

Good coffee. It takes a few days after the roast for the blend to settle in. Prior to that you get gushers due to the out gassing of the beans. Most coffee needs 3 or 4 days rest to outgas. Prior to that you will tend to get a gusher of a shot due to the excess co2 in the beans which may be what you are seeing. They should be in their prime from the 4th to the 8th (depending on the blend you are using, assuming RedLine). Try 19 grams of coffee, pull it at 199-200F for 22-23 grams of coffee extracted in 22-25 seconds (RedLine)

I'll try it thanks for the advice!