Schidz

Ok so here my problem. I recently bought the lg thrill 4g off a guy on craigslist knowing it was bricked but i got it for cheap and firgured it would be an easy fix. i thought wrong. the phone is stuck in the lg screen and wont go any further. i tried going into the recovery mode by pressing down the vol down button and power button, but that hasnt worked either. i talked to a guy that said he could fix it but for 80 bucks, but before i go ahead and spend the money i wanna try and doing it myself with some advice from the forums. please help, it will be much appreciated