Attempt to have a lute played as a guardian (8)
I believe the answer is:
tutelary
'a guardian' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'attempt to have a lute played' is the wordplay.
'attempt to' becomes 'try' (I've seen this in other clues).
'have' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'played' indicates anagramming the letters.
'a'+'lute'='alute'
'alute' with letters rearranged gives 'utela'.
'try' enclosing 'utela' is 'TUTELARY'.
'as' is the link.
(Other definitions for tutelary that I've seen before include "Serving as guardian, giving protection" , "Like the Guardian" .)