bosco,
Never had the '2B', but did have a '2C'! Wish I still had it, they are very nice receivers, one of the absolute best for their time period. All things considered, they would certainly hold their own today.
Almost anything can be used as a receiving antenna, it only has to be electrically conductive. A resonant antenna tends to do a better job than a non-resonant antenna, but that's only a matter of degree, and certainly not something that should restrict your choices. Longer tends to be better than shorter antennas. That's a relative thing concerning the frequency of use and wave lengths. The polarity of an antenna will also determine how well you hear a signal. That's sort of "iffy" because polarity can, and does, change if that received signal has taken a 'bounce' because of 'skip' (propagation). The 'shape' and 'type' of antenna is important because of all of the above, some will be beneficial, some not. The practical aspects, where you have space to hang, or erect the antenna will play a part with what 'type' of antenna you can have. Have lots of trees? Probably a horizontally strung antenna would be easier to put up than a vertical one (unless you have a particularly tall tree?). If you have a tower, mast, whatever, hanging an antenna from one certainly is an idea. All kinds of considerations for what would be convenient or not.
There are any number of antennas that -could- work well for your particular set of circumstances, but there's no -one- best single antenna. All those 'things' that make up your particular circumstance can/will play a part in it. What may work just dandy for me may not work very well at all for you, and visa-versa. I like to 'play', experiment, with antennas. See what works and what doesn't, and figuring out why. You have a really nice opportunity to do some 'playing', if you like that sort of thing. I wish I could tell you the particular antenna that would work 'best' for you, but there are just too many 'variables' to guess at that without a lot more information about what you have available. That '2B' you have can make a lot of really 'odd' antennas very usable for receiving, so lots of opportunities there. If it conducts, it can be an antenna, or part of an antenna, it just takes soe imagination!
Have fun!
- 'Doc