So you need rank 45 to use any of the PvP gear?

[Gooner_iBluAirJGR]

is this true or am I missing something?

Nope You're not missing anything. The grind to be able to equip the highest tier pvp gear (from rank 1-50) is pretty much the same amount of grind it takes to fate grind a class from 1-50 lol. Only with the pvp grind, you don't get much in between besides the lower level glamour.