Hi Mark. Sorry to hear about the 'burnt smell' cause I've did it too.
You can order a Sabertooth 2X12 RC for $65. Sabertooth ESCs are GREAT and easy to wire to the motors. I use Sabertooths in all my large tanks.
And a while ago, when I was doing some wiring and was trying to figure out where to put the fuse breaker, I asked my brother (the ex-F15 electrician) and he said put the fuse between the hot battery lead and ESC.
Mike