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Yep, the neck must come off. It doesn't make adjusting the truss rod impossible, but it increases the degree of difficulty tremendously. I have no idea why they did that. Some people claim there are tone benefits because of course they do. My bass has a truss rod adjuster at the heel of the neck, but it's got a wheel thingy on it so you can adjust it with the neck on.
I listened to some clips of those SDX/SDXQ pups. They may not quack just like a Strat but the quack positions were surprisingly good to my ears.