I'm not high or rich enough to do this yet.
Nope, not there either..
I don't know exactly hat you're saying with the last part of your post, but if you look at this link (same video, specific time) you clearly see the level 36 saber has much lower base stats than the level 48 saber.
134-201 Damage and 223 Force Power vs 223-335 Damage and 373 Force Power.
It would make absolutely no sense if those stats then went to zero when adding mods.
In fact we know that's not the case because the Force Power remains unaffected when you add mods (if no Force Power mods are added).
That's not true either, he states he's taken the mods out of the 48 saber and put them in his 43 saber so he could use it earlier (became a 47 saber?).