String choice for old Gibson

[Black Sheep]

I recently acquired a Gibson bass (from around 1940). It is in fair structural condition, but needs just a little work and some strings. It has four different types now (one roundwound, one half, one flat low tension, and one gut) in poor shape. Does anyone with experience with these basses have any recommendations for strings (with any concern for tension)? I will do mostly pizz work, with some arco and hopefully more arco as I get chops back, so I need versatile strings, but I want to make sure I don't hurt the bass with tight strings, if anyone thinks that is an issue.

[Eric Hochberg]

Sounds nice, there are a couple of Gibsons FS on Kolstein's site and they look good. Your string choices are many and only you and your bass will know what works best. A couple of recommendations, though. If you like a brighter sound, Spirocore Weichs are metal core, very nice, with lower tension than some others and bow pretty well. Evah Pirazzi Weichs are darker sounding, synthetic core, pretty flexible and bow really well. Both sets are high quality and good pizz strings.

Try picking up some used ones to save some $$$ while you experiment. I wouldn't be concerned with doing structural damage with strings unless your bass has serious problems. Have a luthier evaluate it so you know what you have.