Is there an easy way to start with a bare bones help-desk, and then add in functionality as needed?

[Chadly Mac Barton]

We bought this thing over a year ago, and it was so cumbersome we kinda put it on the back burner.  Now we're gung ho, but really disliking the functionality.  We moved from using Spiceworks to using Jira.  We want to start with a stripped down version.

[Jay Karmarkar]

Hi Chadly,

I'm not sure how helpful it would be to use a bare-bones service desk instance without customizing it for your organization, but if you still decide to go with the out of box service desk, you can do it by selecting one of the templates (for eg: Basic Service Desk or IT Service Desk) provided by Atlassian while creating a service desk project. 
This will give you a predefined set of request types as well as supporting workflow and everything else that you'll need to get started.
But I'd recommend that you get your service desk customized according to your organization's need to get the most out of it. You can seek services from the Atlassian Platinum Solution Partners like 'Empyra' to guide you through the entire process and even implement it for you. 
Hope this helps.