Hey homie. I was in the same rut as you for a while. Like others said, monitors, ever budget monitors, will make a WORLD of difference.
I bought a pair of Sterling MX-5s for like $200, and they are great for the price.
And when you start recording, it is important to keep in mind that your tone shouldn't sound 'complete' on it's own. It is just an ingredient in a full song mix. If you took, say, a Periphery song and isolated a single guitar track, it would sound comparatively thin and pretty bad. But when you double/triple track it, and add a bit of EQ, THAT is where you get the tone you are chasing. Think of it like cooking. You couldn't realistically make a hamburger patty taste like a bun, cheese and bacon. But when you combine them and season everything, you get that bacon cheeseburger flavor that you imagine.